


A bigger fellowship

by Fantasticoncer



Series: Unexpected soulmates [2]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Elemental Magic, F/M, Fellowship of the Ring, Friendship, Modern Character in Middle Earth, Out of Character, Protective Aragorn, Protective Legolas Greenleaf, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 07:53:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 23,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18846799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fantasticoncer/pseuds/Fantasticoncer
Summary: Sixty years after saving Thorin and his nephews, Grace, Eva, James and Victoria have to get ready for the biggest and most dangerous journey of their lives. They get help from their soulmates and friends, both old and new.





	1. Happy birthday, Bilbo

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

There were several loud knocks on the door of the birthday hobbit. "No, thank you. We don't want anymore visitors, well-wishers or distant relations." The 111 year old Bilbo Baggins called out grumpily. He perked up, however, at hearing two familiar voices. "And what about very old friends?" The voices chorused and the hobbit quickly ran to his front door and opened it, staring in disbelief at who he saw.

Gandalf? Victoria?" He asked, a grin spreading on his face. The Auburn haired woman smiled and kneeled down in front of him. "Bilbo Baggins." She greeted with a chuckle, opening her arms and Bilbo immediately ran into them. "My dear Victoria." He said with a laugh, before going to greet Gandalf. After having done that, the hobbit looked around with a small frown. Only him, Victoria and Gandalf were there. 

"Victoria, my dear. Where are the others?" He asked. Victoria's smile fell a little. "Oh, they were busy with their soulmates. They might come later today, but they sent me ahead." She answered. Bilbo sagged a bit at that, both in disappointment at his friends not being here and sympathy for Victoria as she's still hadn't found her soulmate like her friends had. "Oh, that's a pity." He murmured, patting her arm.

Victoria's smile grew a bit again. "Yeah, but you can perhaps help me with something else. On the way here, Gandalf and I ran into a group of people. They were looking for a Mr Boggins. Do you know him?" She asked and Bilbo started to laugh as he realised who she was talking about. Around the corner appeared almost the entire company of Thorin Oakenshield, led by the famous dwarf himself and his queen Adal. 

Only Bombur, Oin and Balin had declined to travel. The latter two as they had felt too old and no pony could hold Bombur anymore. Bilbo ran out of his gate to greet his old friends. The whole company happily greeted him back and wished him a happy birthday. Once all the greeting and hugging was done, the dwarves tied their ponies to the fence and went inside after Bilbo had invited them in. 

Gandalf was a lot taller than the average hobbit hole would permit and he almost hit his head on a chandelier, only to bump his head for real against a wooden beam. He heard laughing behind him and saw Victoria, Fíli and Kíli bend over in laughter and even Tauriel was smiling. He playfully scowled at remembering that Victoria could've warned him, but didn't. It took several minutes for the three to calm down and they went to sit at the table. 

They all had a lot of fun, although they all missed the members that weren't there. They peppered Victoria with questions and she answered them as best as she could. "Grace is alright. She and Estel are the only ones, who have aged. Eva's and James's soulmates are elves and I haven't found mine yet." She said. The dwarves, elleth and hobbit all looked at her in sympathy, before there was banging on the door and an obnoxious voice calling Bilbo's name.

"I'm not at home." Bilbo whispered to them, pressing himself against the wall. "I have to get away from these confounding relatives, who never give me a moment's peace." He said. Victoria created a fireball in her hand. "I can scare her away, if you want." She offered, but Bilbo waved her away. "No, but thank you for the offer, my dear." He replied, before sighing and sitting down on a chair. 

He started to talk about how he felt old and wanted to make one, last journey before he died. The dwarves gladly invited him to join them once they were leaving and Bilbo smiled at them. "You better not ride ahead of me. I'm not as fast as I used to be." He said and Victoria snorted loudly at the mental image of the older Bilbo run through the Shire like he had done sixty years ago.

The dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf went outside to smoke, while Tauriel, Adal and Victoria stayed inside. "Is Mr. Baggins alright? He seems... different." The banished elf maiden muttered. Victoria smiled and looked at the door. "Not everyone is used to living this long. Back on my world, I would've been very lucky to reach ninety-five. Yet, here I am and still looking like twenty-five." She replied.

The other two women had to agree with that, Adal having been told about them being from another world. They went to get ready for the party, although Tauriel noticed Victoria shoot a worried and slightly sad glance towards the front door. She frowned, but left it alone for now. They got themselves ready and even Victoria dressed up a bit, having taken a dress with her for this occasion. 

\-------

Fireworks lit up the night sky as Bilbo greeted all the hobbits that had come to his birthday party. The dwarves had a lot of fun with the ale, although some went dancing with a partner, like Kíli and Tauriel. Victoria watched it from the sidelines with a smile, chuckling as she saw the famous Frodo Baggins push Sam into the arms of the woman he fancied. It felt good to see him so happy. He was going to need it. 

She saw Gandalf get more firework from the cart, before two mischievous hobbits appeared: Merry and Pippin. She smiled at seeing them. They had always been two of her favourite characters. As Pippin climbed into the cart, she sneakily approached them. "What do you think you're doing?" She asked, once she had arrived and making the two hobbits jump, before looking down at the ground, caught red-handed.

Victoria looked at them sternly for a few seconds, before getting one of the fireworks that was shaped like a dragon. "If you're going to set something off, make it big." She advised with a smile and a wink. Merry and Pippin lit up, grabbed it and started to run back inside the tent, but Victoria pulled them back by the back of their shirts, knowing that that was a very bad idea that would go wrong.

"No, no, no. Outside. Go on." She urged, gently pushing the two hobbits to an open spot in-between the tents, where they couldn't blow anything up. Merry and Pippin quickly obeyed and went to set the firework into the ground. She watched them go and work with a smile, before looking up and walking away. She had to do something important and she didn't have much time to do it.

Bilbo was telling several children about his encounter with the trolls, not noticing a woman approaching him from behind. "They spent so much time arguing that they didn't notice the sun creeping over the top of the trees..." He said, before being interrupted by the person behind him as she popped her head next to him. "And poof! It turned them all to stone. Although dear Bilbo forgets that me and some friends sang a song to distract the trolls." She added, making the hobbits jump. 

Bilbo started to grin. "Eva, my dear. I was scared that you wouldn't make it." He said, jumping off his chair to hug the brown-haired woman. Eva chuckled as she hugged him back. "As if I would miss such a big party." She said, before her brother James kneeled down next to them. Bilbo hugged him too, overjoyed that two of his friends had still made it. Eva smiled. "Grace wanted to come, but she and Estel were busy with the rangers." She added. 

Bilbo's smile fell a bit. "Oh, that's a pity, but at least, you are here. How are Legolas and Arwen?" He asked and the siblings turned their heads to where said elves were standing, surrounded by curious hobbit children. Bilbo chuckled at the sight, before James walked to his soulmate and held out his hand. "May I have this dance, my lady?" He asked with a light bow and several girls awww'd

Arwen took his hand with a smile. "You may, my lord." She replied, before James led her to the dance floor and started to dance with her on the music. It was pretty funny to see them amongst the small hobbits. Eva turned back to Bilbo. "Where's Victoria?" She asked. Bilbo looked around, but couldn't find her. "That's odd. She was here just a minute ago." He muttered. Eva frowned at that as Legolas joined them

Everyone looked up as a big firework shot up in the sky and took on the form of a dragon. Everyone cheered, until the fake dragon started to head their way and everyone panicked. Eva quickly grabbed Legolas and Bilbo and pulled them down. James did the same with Arwen and Kíli and Thorin did the same with their wives. The dragon flew over their heads and exploded into a beautiful explosion of sparks. Everyone cheered and awed at the firework, while Gandalf caught the two responsible.

"It was Ms Victoria's idea." Pippin quickly spoke up. Gandalf laughed. "Oh really? Where is she then?" He asked. Merry and Pippin looked around, but didn't see her anywhere. Gandalf quickly put them in charge of cleaning the dishes as Bilbo was led on stage for his speech. The hobbit happily greeted everyone at the party, making a special mention for his friends of the company.

Even though he started off well enough, he made a mistake and accidentally insulted the other hobbits. Getting nervous, bilbo put his hand in his pocket and got something out of it. James and Eva shared a look. "I have things to do. I regret to announce that this is the end. I'm going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell. Goodbye." Bilbo whispered, before disappearing and shocking almost everyone. 

Back in Bag End, an invisible Bilbo made his way inside, before pulling off his ring with a laugh. "Had fun?" A voice suddenly asked, making him jump. He looked up and saw Victoria sitting in the living room, waiting for him. "Oh, come now, Victoria. It was just a harmless joke." He said, before starting to get his things. Walking back into the living room, he jumped again at hearing Gandalf's voice. "I suppose that you think that it was terribly clever?" The wizard asked

Eva James and their soulmates were standing next to him. "Did you see their faces?" Bilbo asked. Eva, Victoria and James decided to leave this one to Gandalf. The wizard and hobbit talked for a bit, before Bilbo took his ring out of his pocket and became entranced. "It's mine. My only. My precious." He whispered and the humans shivered, thinking of another character that called the ring that. 

Legolas and Arwen looked at their soulmates in concern, before looking back at Bilbo as the hobbit suddenly became angry and defensive, accusing them and Gandalf of wanting the ring for themselves. "Bilbo Baggins! Do not take me for some conjurer of cheap tricks! We're not here to rob you, but we're here to help you." Gandalf told him, using a bit of magic to shock Bilbo back to himself.

Ashamed, Bilbo quickly hugged his old friend, feeling Eva kneeling down next to him and rub his back. After Gandalf promised to look after Frodo, Bilbo got ready to leave, only for Victoria to block his way by leaning against the door. "You still have the ring in your pocket." She told him gently as he had promised to leave it behind. Bilbo slowly got the ring out of his pocket and barely managed to drop it on the ground. It didn't even bounce

Quickly walking out, Bilbo felt a lot better. The humans offered to go with him and he accepted as they got ready. Gandalf told him goodbye, before Bilbo, James, Eva, Legolas and Arwen started on their way. Victoria told them to go ahead, before turning to Gandalf. She had something to say and she was done keeping quiet about the subject

"That's the ring, Gandalf. That's Sauron's ring. Drop it in the fire, if you don't believe me. I've kept quiet for far too long The Valar forbid me from telling you before and now, it has corrupted one of my dearest friends." She said and Gandalf immediately looked serious. Victoria smiled dryly at him, before starting to walk away as well. Turning back one more time, she gave him a last warning.

"With Sauron gaining power, you can't trust anyone. Not even the purest of colours." She said, before looking down. Gandalf frowned in confusion at the vague warning. "Tell the company that we'll be waiting for them in Bree." Victoria added, before running after her friends.  "Hey guys. Last person at the forest's edge is a stone troll." Gandalf heard her call, before he went back inside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just couldn't wait to start this story, so here you go.
> 
> Read and review. See you next time


	2. Another journey starts

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

Stepping back inside Bag End, Gandalf immediately looked down at the seemingly innocent ring, Victoria's words still clear in his head. He knew that his friend wouldn't lie about this. He sat down in front of the fireplace after telling the worried company that Bilbo and the humans and elves would wait for them in Bree. The company quickly left after that, worried about their former burglar. 

He thought of Bilbo's worrying behaviour. If the ring truly was The One Ring, then Victoria was right and it had corrupted the hobbit. He also thought of her confusing warning. What could she possibly mean with the purest of colours? He heard Frodo run in, worried about his uncle, but far too late to stop him. Seeing the ring still lying on the ground, the young hobbit picked it up and carried it to Gandalf.

Looking down at it, Gandalf finally made the request. "Frodo, be a good lad and drop the ring in the fire, please?" He asked and Frodo hesitantly did so. After a few seconds, Gandalf carefully got it out with iron pincers and giving it back to the hobbit after telling him that it wasn't hot. Slowly, words in a very old language started to appear, truly confirming that it was the most dangerous object in Middle-Earth.

He told Frodo about how The Ring was thought to be destroyed, but wasn't. The wizard was already making plans in his head to ensure the hobbit's safety. "I need you to hide it, Frodo. I need to seek counsel from a friend of mine: Saruman the-" Gandalf trailed off as realisation washed over him. White. Saruman the White. Victoria was telling him not to trust Saruman. He thought quickly, before looking back at Frodo.

"I need you to stay here and keep it secret and safe. If I have not returned by the twenty-third of September, pack your things, get The Ring and go to the the inn called: "The Prancing Pony" in Bree. Either I or one of my and your uncle's old friends will be waiting for you there." He instructed. They heard a sound outside, which turned out to be an eavesdropping Samwise Gamgee. To make up for it, Gandalf ordered the gardener to join Frodo if it was necessary.

Gandalf quickly left in a hurry, heading straight to Lothlórien. He talked with lady Galadriel and together, they formed a risky, dangerous plan. Gandalf would go to Isengard and pretend to seek counsel of Saruman. If the White wizard really was in the nemy's ranks, he could perhaps give info to him if he managed to play dumb. Gandalf waited until the twenty-third of September, knowing that Frodo would start his journey now

Leaving the protection of the forest, Gandalf rode to Isengard, thinking of his old friend's betrayal. This did explain his friends lying about losing their powers all those years ago. If Saruman didn't know that they still had their powers, then they had an advantage. Finally arriving at Isengard, he would almost have thought that Victoria was wrong, if not for certain word choices that his old friend made. 

Reluctantly, Gandalf gave up some information as well about The Ring, although he did lie slightly and say that it was still in The Shire. Saruman revealed that the Nine Ringwraiths were already hunting for it, being disguised as black riders. "I do wonder why you first went to lady Galadriel, before finally coming to me, my old friend." Saruman stated, revealing that he also knew more than he let on. 

Gandalf tried to bluff his way out of it, but Saruman didn't believe him. He was far too powerful and quickly overpowered The Grey Wizard, knocking him out. When Gandalf woke up, it was to the sound of trees being uprooted as he was on the very top of the tower of Isengard. He curled into himself as rain poured down on him. He just hoped that his friends would find Frodo and keep him safe. 

\-------

When Gandalf didn't arrive on the right date, Sam and Frodo packed their things and headed out. After travelling for a while, they bumped into Merry and Pippin... or Merry and Pippin bumped into them. After falling off a hill, they had to hide from a black rider and Frodo instinctively knew that this was one of Sauron's forces that Gandalf had warned him about. A strange urge almost made him put on The Ring, but Sam stopped him. 

For the rest of the day, all they did was running and hiding from the black riders as they tried to get closer to Bree. At nightfall, they were still running and the black riders weren't giving up on following them either, their screeches almost deafening and eerie. Frodo told Merry that they had to get to Bree and the other hobbit knew how: a ferry nearby. They quickly started running towards it

After almost getting caught by the riders, they managed to get on the ferry and cross the river without the black riders following them. The next crossing was a bridge several miles away. They finally managed to get to Bree and quickly found the inn through the rain. Getting inside the inn, the four hobbits looked around nervously as they felt incredibly small next to the humans. 

Frodo asked after Gandalf, but the barman told him that he hadn't been there for six months after Frodo had given him the fake name of "Underhill. "What do we do now?" Sam asked and Frodo thought for a minute. "Gandalf said that if he wasn't here, then one of his and Bilbo's friends would be. Some of them were at Bilbo's birthday party, so maybe we can recognise them." He said softly and the other hobbits agreed. 

They quickly ordered some beer and waited at a table. After seeing that Merry managed to get a pint, Pippin went to get one as well, even though he already had a beer right in front of him. After he left,  Sam carefully leaned closer to Frodo. "Those two have done nothing, but stare at you since we arrived." He muttered, pointing to a dark corner of the inn. Frodo carefully glanced to the corner as well

A man and a woman were sitting in the corner, their sides touching and the hoods of their travelling cloaks hiding their faces as they were indeed watching the hobbits, the man smoking a pipe. Frodo quickly stopped the barman. "Excuse me. That man and woman in the corner. Who are they?" He asked. The man glanced towards the corner and immediately became nervous as he saw the hooded figures.

"They're two of them rangers. A very dangerous folk who live out there in the wild. What their right names are, I don't know, but around here, they're known as Strider and Striker." He whispered, before quickly continuing on. Frodo looked down in thought. "Strider and Striker." He muttered to himself. Those names sounded familiar from somewhere, but he didn't know from where.

He played with The Ring, hearing a voice calling his name, before he heard a oblivious Pippin tell his name to a couple of strangers. He quickly ran to him to warn him, but Pippin pushed him away. In the corner, the man sat up straight in interest. Tripping backwards, he threw The Ring in the air, only for it to land on his finger and make him disappear and the people gasp in shock. Sam and Merry freaked out and even Pippin realised that this was bad. 

With the ring on, Frodo saw a big, flaming eye looking at him. Terrified out of his wits, he quickly pulled off the ring and everything went back to normal. Just as he sighed in relief, a hand grabbed his coat and pulled him up. The hooded man from before was staring at him. "You draw far too much attention to yourself, Mr Underhill." He hissed, before pulling Frodo up the stairs and into a room, the woman following.

"What do you want?" Frodo asked nervously, trying to act braver than how he felt. "A little more caution from you. That is no trinket you carry." The man replied as the woman closed the door and sat down in a chair. "I carry nothing." Frodo tried to convince him. "Indeed." The man scoffed, before sharing a glance with the woman for a second. She flicked her wrist and doused all the candles before he could. 

"We can avoid being seen if we wish, but to disappear entirely, that is a rare gift." The man said, finally pulling off his hood to reveal dark hair, blue eyes and a scruffy beard. "Who are you?" Frodo asked. The man looked vaguely familiar. Was he one of his uncle's friends? "Are you frightened?" The man asked in return, before the woman grabbed his sword and took it from him. He gave her a confused look, before Frodo answered with an honest "yes."

"Not nearly frightened enough. I know what hunts you." The man said, walking closer to the scared hobbit. Footsteps were heard and the man automatically reached for his missing sword as Sam, Merry and Pippin stormed in. Pippin had a chair, Merry a candelabra and Sam had his own two fists, ready to punch the man that had taken his friend. "Let him go! Or I'll have you, longshanks!" The brave gardener threatened. 

The woman let out a soft giggle as she casually played with her companion's sword. The man finally took it from her with an unamused look and put it away with a sigh. He turned back to the three intruders. "You have a stout heart, little hobbit. But that will not save you." He said, before turning to Frodo. "You can no longer wait for the wizard, Frodo. They're coming." He said darkly 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to end it with Frodo finding out about the rangers and vaguely recognising their names, but I had no idea how to put the scene in the bedroom in the next chapter, so I put it here.
> 
> For Frodo not really recognising their names, I imagine Bilbo calling them "Grace" and "Estel" during his stories, instead of "Striker" and "Strider." 
> 
> They did of course visit Bilbo, but as Sauron's power grew, the rangers were needed more and they couldn't visit anymore. Frodo was a very young hobbit, when they stopped visiting, so that's why Aragorn's face looked only "vaguely familiar."
> 
> I wouldn't go into the lion's den like Gandalf did, but desperate times call for desperate measures 
> 
> Read and review. See you next time


	3. To Rivendell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aragorn and Grace have to babysit four hobbits as they make their way to Rivendell

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

They rented a room across from the inn and put the hobbits to bed, even though Frodo couldn't sleep. Aragorn and Grace kept watch at the window, Grace sitting on her soulmate's knee and holding a wooden staff, while Aragorn gripped his sword. Several of the Ringwraiths entered town and Grace felt pity for the now dead guard at the gate. The inhuman beings entered the inn and their angered screeches were heard as they realised that the hobbits weren't there. 

Aragorn's grip on Grace tightened as she shivered. "I always hated those things." She murmured as Sam, Merry and Pippin woke up because of the screeches. "What are they?" Frodo asked and Grace smiled dryly. "A very long time ago, they were men. Great kings too. Sauron gave them nine rings of power. They gladly took them as they were blinded by their greed. They fell into darkness and now they are slaves to his will." She told them.

Aragorn took over. "They are the Nazgûl. Ringwraits. They are neither living nor death. They feel the presence of the Ring at all times and they will never stop hunting you." He said in a quiet, but matter-of-fact voice. He didn't want to scare the hobbits even more, but they had to know what was after them. The hobbits slowly went to sleep and Aragorn told Grace to go to sleep too. He would keep watch. Slightly worried, Grace did so. 

At first light, Aragorn woke them up and they left Bree, this time with a pony. While walking, Aragorn and Grace heard the hobbits mutter about whether or not they could trust the rangers, thinking that they couldn't hear them. "I vaguely recognise them from when they visited my uncle years ago. We have no choice, but to trust them." Frodo said, before Sam softly asked where the rangers were taking them. 

"To Rivendell, master Gamgee." Grace replied looking back to see several guilty looking hobbits as they realised that the so-called "foul" rangers had heard every word that they had been saying. Looking forwards again, she continued. "To the House of Lord Elrond." She said as they went on. She heard Sam mutter excitedly about how they were going to see the elves and smiled.They crossed a grassy plain and Aragorn wrapped his arm around Grace after seeing her shiver.

She smiled at him in gratitude. "Sometimes, I wish that I had Victoria's powers." She said with a smile. He smiled back at her. "Air can be warm too." He replied and Grace made a face. "I never managed to learn that. It's not like there are Air Nomads in this world." She muttered. Aragorn gave her a confused look for a second, before letting it go, being used to her saying things that he didn't understand.

A while later, they were walking over a snowy landscape, Aragorn walking ahead and Grace following just slightly behind. Turning back, Aragorn saw that the hobbits had stopped. "Gentlemen, we do not stop, until nightfall." He stated, giving his soulmate a suspicious look at seeing the grin on her face. She just raised a finger that was hidden from the hobbits by her body, just as Pippin spoke up. 

"What about breakfast?" The young hobbit asked and Aragorn frowned in confusion. "You already had it." He replied. "We had one, yes. What about second breakfast?" Pippin asked in return, Grace secretly mouthing the words along, before silently giggling to herself. Almost rolling his eyes at both the hobbit and his soulmate, Aragorn continued on. He threw two apples to the hobbits to make up for it. 

Grace walked faster to catch up with him. "I'm sorry. That line is just one of my favourites and now, I have heard it in real life." She whispered with a grin still on her face. Aragorn gave her a look, before wrapping his arm around her, showing that she was forgiven. She instinctively leaned into his touch, knowing that she had to appreciate moments like this with Sauron slowly growing in strength.

They waded through a swamp and almost fell several times. "Wishing that you had Eva's powers now?" Aragorn said softly and in a teasing tone. Grace gave him a mock glare. "Oh, shut up." She muttered,  batting away mosquitos and holding up her staff. Having had enough of the pesky insects, she stopped, gave her staff to Aragorn and turned around. "Everyone, stand very still." She ordered and the hobbits quickly obeyed, although they weren't happy with the order. 

Flicking both of her wrist, Grace made two miniature hurricanes that flew around her and the hobbits and sucked several dozens of mosquitos up. The hobbits sighed both in relief and awe. Frodo smiled, now knowing that the rangers really were the people that his uncle had talked about. They managed to make it through the swamp and made a camp for the night, Aragorn managing to kill a deer. 

After dinner, Grace turned to Aragorn. "Shall I keep watch?" She asked, already getting ready to do so. Aragorn shook his head. "No. Go to sleep, _Eruanna_. I will take first watch." He replied, but Grace wasn't having any of it. " _Meleth Nín._ This is the third or fourth night in a row that you have refused to sleep. Even you need rest." She said in a worried tone. Seeing that her soulmate was unconvinced, she took up post next to him, playing with her staff.

He gave her a look, but sighed. He knew that he wouldn't convince her to go to sleep with talking, so he took on a different approach. After a couple of hours, he wrapped an arm around her and she instinctively leaned into his side. He slowly started to hum and sing a song in elvish. Grace smiled softly. "I know what you are doing." She whispered, realising that he was trying to lull her to sleep. 

He smiled down at her. "Is it working?" He asked. Grace shifted a bit and put her staff down. "Maybe. Promise me that when we are back in Rivendell, the first thing that you will do is go to bed and sleep." She pleaded, worried about him. He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "I promise." He whispered, pulling her closer and starting to sing again. Grace relaxed and fell asleep as he caressed her hair and continued singing. 

After a while, Frodo woke up and asked what the song was about. "It is the story about the lady of Lúthien. The Elf-maiden who gave her love to Beren, a mortal man." Aragorn whispered, looking down at the sleeping Grace. "What happened to her?" Frodo asked and Aragorn bit his lip. "She died." He replied shortly, before ordering Frodo to go back to sleep. He took a deep breath and carefully pulled his soulmate closer. 

They travelled through another day, until they came across the ruins of an old watchtower. Aragorn gave the hobbits swords and asked Grace to stay behind, while he went to take a look around. Grace tried to protest, but he didn't listen. The hobbits chatted a bit with the female ranger, feeling a bit more relaxed now that Aragorn's intimidating presence wasn't around. Grace simply laughed when Pippin accidentally said it out loud. 

"He does look a bit scary, huh?" She asked with a laugh and the hobbits relaxed again. "What does your staff do?" Pippin asked looking at said wooden staff. Grace smiled at him and held the staff in her hands. "It was a gift from the elves of Lothlórien. Do not ask me how they managed to make it, because I do not know myself. It helps me get from one place to another faster." She explained.

They all looked surprised that a staff could do that, but they knew Gandalf, so they let it go. Leaning back against the wall, Grace started to doze off. She woke up at hearing Frodo panic about the fire that the other three hobbits had made, followed by an all-too-familiar screech. Looking down, she and the four hobbits saw the Nazgûl doom up from the mist. Pulling her sword and gripping her staff, Grace ordered them to run and they obeyed. 

They ended up at the top of the ruin and Grace quickly pulled them together, looking at where she knew the Nazgûl would appear. She stiffened at seeing them arrive at where they were standing. Seeing her reaction, the hobbits turned as well and saw them too. Grace quickly pulled them behind her and bravely pointed her sword at the inhuman beings, even as all five of them did the same. 

Backing up, she was scared out of her wits, but made sure not to show it, knowing that the Nazgûl preyed on fear. _'Aragorn, where are you?'_  She thought as she parried the first blow. She did her best to fight them off, but there was only so much one person could do against five. One of the Nazgûl grabbed her and threw her against a wall, knocking her out. Sam, Merry and Pippin tried to fight as well, but they were no match for the beings.

Frodo dropped his sword in fear and fell backwards in his hurry to get away. He pulled out the ring and put it on. This did not help him hide from the Nazgûl as one out them stabbed him in the shoulder. This was when Aragorn jumped in, fighting them off with his sword and a torch. He felt guilt course through him at realising this was why Grace hadn't wanted him to go, but he hadn't listened to her. 

He managed to fight four of them off. The fifth tried to sneak up on the hobbits, he hadn't noticed something: Grace had woken up. Sitting up slightly, the woman growled. "Alright, screw it." She muttered, before throwing her arms out and blasting the dark creature off the tower. She hadn't wanted to tip Sauron off about her powers, but she had no choice now. Aragorn kneeled next to her, but she pushed him away. 

"Frodo needs you more. He's been stabbed by a Morgul blade." She whispered. Aragorn quickly ran to the injured hobbit. "This is beyond my capabilities. We need to get him to Rivendell." He said, carefully lifting Frodo up and and over his shoulder. Merry gently helped Grace stand back up. "Can you run?" He asked and she showed him a pained grin. "It is not the worst injury that I have had." She replied, before they followed the others. 

They kept running, until they reached a familiar place: the stone trolls. Grace left her staff with them and went into the woods, knowing exactly what to look for: Kingsfoil. She was just cutting a bit of the right plant, when a sword appeared in front of her and lifted her chin up. "What's this? A ranger caught off her guard?" A familiar voice asked and Grace slowly turned her head to give an unamused look at seeing the grinning face of Eva.

"You were waiting to say that, weren't you?" She asked as she got up with the plant. Eva grinned and shrugged. "I thought that Arwen was supposed to be here." Grace commented as they hurried back. Eva rolled her eyes. "Do you honestly think that James would let his soulmate be chased by the Nazgûl? No. He sent me instead and Arwen will wait for me at the river to do her water magic." She replied as they arrived back at the group. 

The hobbits were surprised to see another woman out of nowhere, but Aragorn barely blinked as he took over the weed and put it in the wound to temporarily stop the poison. "We don't have much time. We need to get him to lord Elrond quickly." Eva said. Aragorn nodded and gently helped putting Frodo on Eva's horse. _"Stay with the hobbits. I will send horses."_  He whispered in elvish, but Eva shook her head. 

 _"I'm the faster rider. I will take him to safety."_ She replied, but Aragorn was reluctant. _"The road is too dangerous. Legolas and James will kill me if anything happens to you."_ He said and Eva chuckled. _"They agreed to let me do this."_ She said as Grace stepped forward. "I'll protect her." She said in the common tongue and carrying her staff, making Aragorn and Eva look at her in surprise, the former looking even more reluctant. 

"Are you sure? You got knocked out during the fight." Aragorn whispered, cupping her face. Grace smiled at him and rested her forehead against his. "I feel fine. I promise. Besides, it has been ages since I got to use my powers to their full potential." She replied, silently telling him with her eyes to let her do this. Aragorn took a shaky breath, before finally nodding. Grace smiled at him as Eva got on her horse. "Ride hard and don't look back." Aragorn advised

Eva listened, telling her horse to go. It ran away with its two riders and disappeared. Grace gave him one last smile, before making a certain movement with her staff that made wings unfold. It wasn't a staff at all, but a glider. Getting in the right position, Grace used her powers to shoot herself off the ground and fly away. Aragorn barely heard Sam's protests as he hoped that they would make it to Rivendell safely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did Aragorn sleep while taking the hobbits to Isen- I mean Rivendell?
> 
> The glider was pretty much a deus-ex-machina to let Grace be a part of the next chapter. If you want it imagine it, picture Aang's glider in avatar: the last airbender. 
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	4. First fight.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

Eva shot through the landscape on horseback, tightly holding onto the weak Frodo and Grace flying above her. She was riding through a forest, when Grace spotted the first of the Nazgûl approaching. "On your left." She said and let the wind carry her words right to her friend. Eva looked to her left and saw the black rider. It was quickly joined by several others. Eva spurred her horse on even more. 

Grace quickly nosedived to the ground, landed on it, folded up her glider and sent a enormous blast of air towards them. Trees bent over and were uprooted by the powerful wind. Two of the Nazgûl were blown away. Grace smirked at this, before flying away again and distracting the two Nazgûl that she had blown away. She kept blowing them away every time that they tried to go back to the others

Eva looked up at hearing a sound that made her think of a flamethrower. Just as she thought of it, Victoria shot over her head, flames shooting out of her hands and propelling her forwards like a jetpack. "I heard that you guys liked fire." She shouted, before sending a blast of it to them. Two of the nazgûl barely managed to avoid it, but the third one wasn't so lucky. It let out another horrible screech as it was burned. 

The earth rumbled and a hole appeared. James shot up out of it and aimed a big rock at the last two. With her friends and brother distracting the Nazgûl, Eva managed to cross the river, where Arwen was waiting for her. Grace, James and Victoria landed next to her. The Nazgûl quickly caught up again and ordered them to give up Frodo. "You want him? Come and get him." Eva challenged with a smirk. 

The Nazgûl started to cross the river and Eva turned to her future sister-in-law. "You take care of them. I will go on, before it's too late." She said. Arwen nodded and started to chant as Eva raced away with Frodo. James, Grace and Victoria all grinned as a giant wave of water changed itself in the shapes of horses and literally washed them away. "Am I the only one, who feels sorry for the horses?" Victoria asked out loud and everyone laughed. 

Meanwhile, Eva had reached Rivendell with an almost gone Frodo. Lord Elrond was waiting for her at the gates and quickly took him over, hurrying to the healing chambers. Eva decided to take care of her horse in the meantime as the animal had done its best for her. Taking it to the stables, she put the saddle away and carefully started to brush the sweat off her horse. "You did so good." She whispered to it and it neighed in response.

Eva smiled at feeling two familiar arms wrap around her and someone kissing the top of her head, white blond hair visible from the corner of her eyes. She dropped the brush and turned around to look into the relieved blue eyes of her soulmate. "Thank the Valar that you are alright." He whispered, nuzzling her temple and making her laugh. Pulling back, he started to look her over for any possible injuries.

Eva gave him a peck on the lips, calming him down. "I'm fine, my love. James, Grace and Victoria helped me keep ahead from them. I do think that I'm half deaf from their screeches, though." She said jokingly and Legolas laughed at that, before pulling her closer and embracing her tightly. Eva hugged him back, feeling her legs tremble as she truly realised that she had been chased by the _Nazgûl_ of all things. Legolas sensed her panic and held her even tighter.

"I am here, _Cuilwen_. I'm here." He whispered, stroking her hair. She smiled at hearing the elvish version of her name. He only used it on special occasions and it always made her smile. She buried her face in his shoulder and closed her eyes. Even though she had been living in Middle-Earth for more than sixty years now, moments like this reminded her that this wasn't a movie. The danger was completely real.

After a few seconds he suddenly let out a big groan as she remembered something else. Legolas immediately looked down in concern. "What is it?" He asked in worry . Eva sighed and pulled back a bit "There was a part in the movies that scared me as a child and I just suddenly remembered that it will happen again and this time, I will be in that scene." She replied vaguely.

Legolas looked down in confusion. "Then, you do not go there." He said softly, not understanding why she was so afraid. Eva grinned dryly. "Aragorn will go in and you will follow. I will not let you go in alone, no matter how much I hate that part." She stated, looking up at him. Legolas smiled down at her. She was so brave and he loved her more than anything. He pulled her closer again, just as the others came back. They anxiously waited for news, together with Bilbo.

The old hobbit had decided to stay in Rivendell, having gotten older at a fast pace, now that he didn't have the Ring anymore. He was worried, but also confident that lord Elrond knew what he was doing. After several hours, lord Elrond came to them and told them that Frodo had survived, but would need a lot of rest and was now in a magical sleep for a few days. Everyone sighed in relief.

Gandalf finally arrived a day later on the back of an eagle. "I told told you not to trust him." Victoria said sternly and Gandalf actually looked sheepish. "I know, my dear. However, I hoped that I could get some information and escape, but unfortunately, Saruman was a bit more clever than I." He apologised. Victoria hummed at that, before telling him about what happened to Frodo. The grey wizard immediately took up post beside the hobbit's bed. 

Aragorn, Sam, Merry and Pippin finally arrived in Rivendell two days after Gandalf. The three hobbits immediately went to check up on their friend, while Aragorn pulled Grace closer and hugged her tightly in relief. Grace gladly hugged him back, before pulling apart and grabbing his hand. "Bed. Now." She ordered, pulling him to his room. Aragorn knew better than to argue and followed her. 

After he got into bed, Grace was about to leave, but he grabbed her wrist. "Stay." He whispered. Grace was slightly surprised for a moment, before smiling and sitting down. It wasn't often that her soulmate let himself be vulnerable. She squeezed his hand and brushed away his hair. "I'm not going anywhere." She told him. He smiled at her, before closing his eyes and finally falling asleep.

After a couple of hours, Legolas softly knocked on the door. He and Aragorn had become as close as brothers and with their soulmates being best friends, that was not really a surprise. "Is he alright?" The elf prince asked and Grace shrugged. "I honestly do not know. I am pretty sure that he has not slept since we left Rivendell to pick up Frodo and I feel like he is hiding something from me." She whispered. 

Legolas frowned at hearing this. That wasn't good at all. He looked at his sleeping friend in concern. He would have to keep a close eye on him and he knew that Grace would do the same. He nodded at the woman, before leaving the room. Grace looked at her sleeping soulmate. _'What are you hiding, my darling?'_  She thought to herself, before picking up a book and starting to read

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time


	5. Council members arrive

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

After several days, frodo finally woke up, much to the relief of everyone. The humans from earth properly introduced themselves to the hobbits. Once he was better, Frodo reunited with his uncle. Legolas chose this time to talk with Aragorn. James was with Arwen. Victoria was in the library and Eva and Grace were training together. Aragorn looked up from where he was reading a book as Legolas walked into his room after knocking.

"Grace told you, didn't she?" The ranger asked, already having a guess what this was about. Legolas nodded and sat down next to him. "She is worried and from what she has told me, she has every right to be." He said. Aragorn barely reacted to this as he continued on reading. Legolas sighed. "Mellon nín, even you can not go through so many nights without sleep. What is keeping you from it?" He asked. 

"Can't sleep." Aragorn muttered. Legolas raised an eyebrow. "Can't or won't?" He asked and he sighed again when Aragorn didn't answer him. Letting it go for now, the elven prince sighed and stood up, leaving the room. A while later, Aragorn left himself and went to look for Grace. He found her fighting Eva in the training field. He watched them for a while, before Grace got knocked down by her friend.

"Grace! Are you alright?" Aragorn asked, running to her and helping her up. Grace gave him a funny look. "Of course, I'm alright. It's just Eva. It's but a scratch." She said, looking him up-and-down. "A scratch?! Your arm's off!" Eva said. "No, it isn't." Grace replied, hiding her arm behind her back.  "Well, what's that then?" Eva asked pointing at an imaginary aim that they were apparently seeing. 

Grace looked at the spot as well. "I've had worse." She replied, before getting ready to fight again. Aragorn watched them with a bewildered look, realising that this was something from their world. Grace charged at Eva, but completely missed on purpose. Eva touched her sword arm with the hilt of her sword and Grace dropped her own and held her arms behind her back, pretending to be literally "disarmed"

"Victory is mine." Eva said in a triumphant tone, before kneeling and starting to pray, until Grace "kicked" her in the face and taunted her. "Had enough, eh?" She asked after Eva had said that the fight was hers. "Look, you stupid bastard, you've got no arms left." Eva said impatiently. "Yes, I have." Grace replied, temporarily breaking character to wave with her arms, just as James and Arwen came to stand next to Aragorn.

"What are they doing?" Arwen asked and Aragorn shrugged, having absolutely no idea. "I don't know. I think it's from your world." He answered, nodding at James just as Eva pretended to cut Grace's leg off. Grace held up the leg and hopped around on the other leg. It looked pretty silly. "Right, I'll do you for that." She threatened. "You'll what!?" Eva asked in an incredulous tone, before rolling her eyes.

"What are going to do? Bleed on me?" She asked sarcastically and James finally recognised what they were doing. "Ah. Monty Python. A very well known comedy group." James explained to Aragorn and he hummed. Eva and Grace went on for a bit, before Aragorn went back to his room. Once he was gone, Eva turned to her friend. "Is he okay? I have never seen him freak out about training before." She said and Grace shrugged, worried as well.

"I don't know. He's starting to become even more protective than before and he's not sleeping well." She muttered. The women and men shared a concerned look, before Elladan and Elrohir, lord Elrond's sons, ran towards them and told them that guests were arriving. They followed them to see some familiar faces arriving from a balcony: Fíli and Kíli. Gloin with his son Gimli and Boromir, th eldest son of the steward of Gondor.

They hadn't officially met Boromir yet, but they knew him from the movies. Grace leaned very close to the siblings. "What do you think? Save him too?" She whispered, the elves pretending that they didn't hear anything. Eva hummed. "I think that Merry and Pippin would be very happy with that. Besides, I'm kind of curious what he is like without the Ring being close. So, I vote yeah." She said in a light tone. The others chuckled, before agreeing.

Fíli and Kíli were overjoyed to see them again and to see their old burglar. They had really missed them. The humans all hugged the two brothers tightly, before greeting Gloin and Gimli. Eva saw some other dwarves look around in barely veiled disgust. While the relationship between elves and dwarves wasn't as cold as it used to be, there were still some dwarves, who held onto old grudges. 

In the library, lord Elrond, Gandalf and even Victoria were discussing the Ring. The woman had no idea why she was called here, but she kept quiet. After telling Gandalf about how Isildur had failed to destroy the Ring, lord Elrond turned to Victoria and his harsh expression softened. "Tell me, Victoria. Were you and the others tempted by the Ring?" He asked and Victoria thought for a minute.

"Wel, there was this time in Mirkwood with the company. Bilbo showed us the Ring and we all got this voice in our head that told us to take it. We quickly told him to put to put that thing where it came from, or so help us." She said with a slight chuckle. She saw the confused expressions of Gandalf and lord Elrond and waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "It's a reference to our world." She explained. The men nodded in understanding.

"It is very impressive that you managed to resist the temptation." Lord Elrond commented and Victoria bowed her head. "We knew what it was, but Aragorn resisted it too and he didn't know." She said, indirectly referring to lord Elrond's comment that men were weak. This prompted Gandalf to say that Aragorn could unite the kingdoms. "He turned from that path a long time ago. He has chosen exile." Lord Elrond said solemnly.

That night, Aragorn and Grace were sitting close to the shards of Narsil, the blade that cut the Ring from Sauron's hand. Aragorn had a tight grip on Grace as they heard footsteps and Boromir appeared, looking around. After looking at the mural painting of Isildur facing Sauron, he noticed them sitting there. "You are no elves." He said, surprised to see even more humans in the elven home. 

"Men and women of the south are welcome here." Aragorn said, stroking Grace's side. Boromir looked down at their closeness, correctly guessing what they were and feeling a slight pang of jealousy. He still hadn't found his soulmate, neither had his brother and their father had started to pressure them to find a suitable bride, uncaring if those women were their soulmates or not .

Boromir didn't really care about finding his own, as long as his brother found his. Their father had always been more harsh to Faramir on pretty much everything. He had always done his best to help his brother and stand on his side, but to almost no avail. He hoped that his brother's soulmate could give him the love that their father seemed intent on keeping from him. He sighed and shook his head "Who are you?" He finally asked, snapping himself out of his thoughts.

"We're friends of Gandalf the Grey." Grace answered with a soft smile. "Then we are here on common purpose... friends." Boromir said with a slight smirk, before going to take a look at Narsil and picking up the part with the hilt. Cutting himself, he realised that it was still sharp, before slowly turning to look at the couple. Seemingly realising who Aragorn was, he carelessly dropped the part on the ground and walked away.

"That was unnecessary." Grace muttered as she stood up with Aragorn, who gently placed the shard back in its place. Seeing his torn expression, Grace gently grabbed his hand and squeezed it. " _Meleth nín_. You are Isildur's heir. Not Isildur himself. You are not bound to his fate." She said, secretly quoting movie Arwen. "The same blood flows through my veins. The same weakness." Aragorn whispered, looking at her with so much fear in his eyes.

"Your time will come. You will face the same evil and you will defeat it." Grace told him confidently. She caressed his cheek and he leaned into her touch. "And I will be by your side when you do." She continued. There was a strange flash in Aragorn's eyes, before he pulled her closer and embraced her tightly. Grace calmly rubbed his back. They stood there for a while, before going to bed, Grace once again staying with her soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's up with aragorn? 
> 
> Read and review. See you next time


	6. The famous council

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise

Elves, dwarves and humans met in the same place as the dwarves had their dinner sixty years before. Boromir was shocked to see Grace, Eva and Victoria in the meeting. "You shouldn't be here." He said to Victoria, who immediately perked up at his words. That was one of the sentences of her soulmark "This is no place for women." He continued and Victoria sagged in disappointment and scowled at him.

"Lord Elrond and Mithrandir invited us here, so if you have a problem with us, you can go and speak with them." She replied shortly, before walking away and plopping down on her chair in-between Eva and James without her usual grace and manners. Eva simply raised an eyebrow at in question. "I was this close to hearing my soulmark. He said the first sentence, but then he said something else and it was quite sexist." Victoria replied. 

Eva patted her knee in sympathy. She knew that her friend was getting a bit antsy over being the only one without her soulmate. "You'll find yours one day. Besides, if Boromir was your soulmate, then Denethor would be your father-in-law." She consoled her friend and Victoria shivered at that. She always hated him, even before going to Middle-Earth. Her attention was pulled by lord Elrond standing up from his chair. 

"Strangers from distant lands. Friends of old. You've been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-Earth stands on the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will fall." He said solemnly, before turning to Frodo and asking him to bring forth the Ring. Frodo did so and Eva could see that it had an immediate effect on everyone as did Grace, who was sitting next to Aragorn on the other side of the line of chairs. 

Boromir slowly stood up and everyone looked up at him. "In a dream, I saw the eastern sky grow dark, but in the west, a pale light lingered. A voice was crying: "your doom is near at hand. Isildur's bane is found."" He said, slowly walking closer to the Ring. Both Eva and Grace grabbed their soulmate's hands, knowing what was about to happen. Legolas and Aragorn looked at them in concern.

Boromir reached out to take the Ring, before lord Elrond jumped up and the sky darkened. Gandalf started to chant in Black Speech and another voice echoed it. Both Legolas and Aragorn pulled their hands free, only to wrap their arms around their soulmates instead and pull them closer. James put his hand on Victoria's arm and hoped that Arwen was alright. After several seconds, the voice disappeared and the sky lightened up. 

Eva took a shaky breath as it stopped. "That was way scarier in real life." She whispered and Legolas rubbed her back, kissing the top of her head. On the other side of the row of chairs, Aragorn was holding Grace tightly, almost more shaken up than she was. Grace rested her head on his shoulder, taking deep breaths to keep herself calm. She had felt the darkness in every fibre of her being.

"Never before has any voice uttered the words of that tongue here in Imladris." Lord Elrond said, looking at Gandalf. "I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond for the black speech of Mordor may yet be heard in every corner of the west! The ring is altogether evil." The wizard said. Boromir did not agree with that. "It is a gift." He whispered, making the humans from earth roll their eyes. 

Even Gandalf looked back around with an expression that screamed: "did you not hear what I said?" "A gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not use this Ring? Long has my father, the steward of Gondor kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe." Boromir continued. Grace blew out a deep breath as she rested her head on her index- and middle finger, looking extremely fed up with him already.

Even Aragorn couldn't believe the words coming out of the man's mouth. "Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him." Boromir continued. This was when Grace decided to speak up, having had about enough. "You can not wield it. None of us can." She said and Aragorn agreed with her. "The One Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master." He said. Boromir raised an eyebrow at them. 

He clearly wasn't used to someone speaking up against him. "And what would two rangers know of this matter?" He said in a snobbish tone and Grace had to fight the urge to punch him in the face or blow him off the platform. Legolas stood up as well, ready to defend his friends. "They are no mere rangers. He's Aragorn, son of Arathorn and she's his soulmate Grace. You owe them your allegiance." He said, his voice bordering on a growl. Eva, Victoria, James and Fíli and Kíli were glaring at him too.

Boromir slowly turned to the couple, focusing mostly on the man. "Aragorn? This is Isildur's heir?" He asked with a scoff. "And heir to the throne of Gondor." Legolas reminded him, before Aragorn told him to sit down, not wanting anymore trouble. Legolas reluctantly did so. "Gondor has no king. Gondor needs no king." Boromir scoffed as he sat back down, glaring at the two. Aragorn looked down after a few seconds, but Grace didn't. 

She kept glaring right back at him, until Aragorn grabbed her hand and pulled her attention away from the man. "Forgot how much of a jerk he was in the beginning." She whispered as a certain wizard spoke up. "Aragorn and Grace are right. We cannot use it." Gandalf agreed with the rangers. Lord Elrond stood back up. "You only have one choice. The Ring must be destroyed." He said

Gimli tried to destroy it with an axe, but it backfired completely and the Ring's magic blasted him back. At hearing his name, Aragorn widened his eyes, remembering hearing Legolas call him a goblin mutant. He shared a look with Grace and she nodded at him with a wink. He looked back at the dwarf, curious about why his soulmate and friends had just barely refrained themselves from laughing that day. 

While he had been thinking, lord Elrond had told everyone about how the Ring could only be destroyed in the fires of Mt Doom. "One of you must do this." He said and there was silence for a few seconds. "Not everyone at the same time." Eva muttered, just as Boromir started to say the famous line. "One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its black gates are guarded by more than just orcs." He told everyone. 

"There is evil the that does not sleep and the great Eye is ever-watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with 10.000 men could you do this. It is folly." He continued in a completely defeated tone. One of Legolas's companions stood up. "Have you heard nothing lord Elrond just said. The Ring must be destroyed!" He stated, looking around.

This was when one of Gimli's grumpy and suspicious companions spoke up. "And I suppose _you_ are the one to do it?" He scoffed and the humans from earth shared a surprised look. It seemed that Gimli had changed a little bit as he looked surprised by the dwarf's outburst himself. It seemed that having a father that knew at least two elves and having a king that tolerated elves had changed him. 

Chaos erupted and everyone started to talk and shout amongst each other. Only the humans from earth, Legolas, Aragorn, Frodo, Fíli, Kíli and lord Elrond stayed seating, the dwarf princes looking apologetic for their kin's outburst. James patted Fíli's arm. During all the shouting, Frodo made a life-changing decision and he stood up. "I will take it!" He shouted, but no one heard him. 

He was about to say it again, when a strong wind started to blow and distracted everyone as they tried not to be blown away. Grace slowly dropped her hands, having had enough and knowing what Frodo had said. When everyone looked at her, she looked at Frodo in return and they followed her example. "I will take the Ring to Mordor." The brave hobbit stated, making everyone stare at him. 

"Though, I do not know the way." Frodo whispered. Gandalf nodded at him. "I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins as long it is yours to bear." He said, going to stand behind Frodo. James saw that the dwarf princes were about to offer their services and leaned towards them. "Erebor and your uncle need you more than we do." He said softly. Fíli and Kíli reluctantly agreed with him. Aragorn stood up from his chair.

"If by my life or death I can protect you, I will." He said, before walking up to him and kneeling in front of him. "You have my sword." He swore, before going to stand next to Gandalf. Grace, James, Eva and Victoria shared a look before the latter three stood up as well, Grace never having sat back down. "You will have our weapons and powers." Grace spoke up for the four of them as they joined the small group. She saw that Aragorn wasn't happy with it, but she didn't care.

"And you'll have my bow." Legolas said, joining them as well. There was no way that he was going to let Eva go on a dangerous journey on her own. "And my axe." Gimli said, joining them too. After Boromir joined them as well, an eavesdropping Sam ran up to them. "Mr Frodo is not going anywhere without me." He stated. "Indeed. It is hardly possible to separate you, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not." Lord Elrond said with a small smile.

 _'Three... two... one...'_ The humans from earth thought thought, just before Merry and Pippin showed up, stating that they were coming too and Grace had to suppress a smile at seeing the bewildered look on the elven lord's face. "You'll have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us." Merry said determinedly. "Anyway, you need people of intelligence for this sort of mission. Quest. Thing." Pippin stumbled a bit.

The humans from earth had to bite their lips to prevent laughter. "Well, that rules you out, Pip." Merry said to the younger hobbit. Eva's and Victoria's shoulders shook with silent laughter. "Thirteen companions. So be it. You shall be the Fellowship of The Ring." Lord Elrond stated. Grace, James, Eva  and Victoria all shared an excited look. "Great. Where are we going? Pippin asked and the humans from earth finally laughed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, that was a big one.
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	7. Preparations

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

Over the next few days, the grown Fellowship prepared for their journey. There was both excitement and dread in the air as everyone hoped for the best and feared the worst. Arwen wasn't happy to hear about it when James told her. She wanted to go as well, but James knew that her father would never agree with it and told her so. Arwen sighed in disappointment, but she knew that he was right. 

James pulled her closer and held her tightly, stroking her hair. "It will be alright, my star. You'll see." He whispered. Arwen smiled at his little nickname for her. "You better come back, my love. I am not going to Valinor on my own." She replied and James hummed. "Technically, you wouldn't go on your own. There's you father and your grandparents and- oof." He grunted as Arwen hit him on the back, not appreciating his comment. He smiled down at her.

"I will do my best to return. I promise." He vowed. Arwen sighed and buried her face in his shoulder, knowing that this was the best that she could get with the growing darkness. Meanwhile, James was slightly panicking. Even if he survived the whole war, he would've too leave for Valinor eventually. He would have to leave so many friends behind, Grace and Victoria to name a few.

Eva had an elf for a soulmate, so she would sail eventually too, but their original group would be halved by that time. It was going to be hard to say goodbye to his friends. _'If they all survived this.'_ A nasty voice in his head said and he shook his head to clear it. Looking down, he saw his soulmate's eyes look up at him in concern. He smiled and kissed her. She happily returned the gesture. They stood like that for a while. 

Legolas and Eva were training together, Eva even managing to knock her soulmate on his back several times. Sam, Merry and Pippin were watching them and cheered them on. After a while, Legolas finally managed to knock Eva on her back. Helping her up Legolas looked at her with a smile. _"Are you sure that you want to do this?"_ He asked in elvish. Eva just smiled at him in answer.

 _"I'm not going to let you go on this journey alone, my darling. I can handle myself."_ She whispered, caressing his cheek. Legolas smiled at her and kissed her. They broke apart at hearing the hoots of Merry and Pippin. Looking at the two mischievous hobbits and the blushing Sam, Eva smiled. "Oh hush, you two. One day, you're going to find yourselves someone and then, this will be everything that you do." She teased.

Merry and Pippin pulled disgusted faces, while Sam chuckled. The other two hobbits quickly started to tease him about his crush on Rosie and he blushed and walked away, followed by the duo. Eva laughed as she watched them go. Legolas pulled her closer and kissed her again, now that they was gone. Breaking apart, Eva caressed his face again. "We'll be fine, my love." She whispered and he nodded in reply, before getting ready to spar again. 

Aragorn and Grace visited the grave of Gilraen. The woman had died several years prior and Aragorn missed her everyday. Grace stood back a bit, leaning against a nearby pillar as her soulmate wiped away dirt from the grave, before just standing in silence. She carefully stepped away from the pillar and walked over to him, grabbing his hand. He squeezed it in gratitude and smiled at her. 

When lord Elrond arrived, Grace quietly left at his request. The elven lord turned to Aragorn and talked with him a bit about how only he could reclaim the throne of Gondor. When Aragorn told him that he didn't want that power, the lord sighed in exasperation, but changed the subject.. He too had heard about the man's sleeping problems and he knew that this could prove fatal for the quest. 

Aragorn looked down at the ground, knowing that lord Elrond wouldn't leave, until he had told him the truth. Grace and Legolas stopped asking after a while, because they didn't want to push him. Lord Elrond had no such qualms. "Almost every night, I have the same dream. Armies of orcs marching out of a big gate, two armies colliding. It is always very vague, but it ends the same every time: my _Eruanna_ dead in my arms." He whispered.

Lord Elrond reared back at his words. This was bad. Taking a deep breath, he told Aragorn to at least tell Grace about this. She deserved to know. Aragorn reluctantly agreed with him after several seconds and went to find her. She was in her chambers. He sat her down and finally told her what had kept him awake for so long. Grace was shocked and immediately threw manners out of the window and climbed on his lap. 

"I'm here, _Meleth nín._ I'm alive and alright." She whispered, tears in her eyes. Aragorn hugged her as tightly as he could, tears in his eyes as well. He didn't want to lose her. He really didn't. He wouldn't know what to do without her. The only way that he got sleep these days was if Grace was in the same room, so that he could see that she was alright and that it had just been a dream and nothing more

Grace buried her face in his chest. She now finally knew why he hadn't been sleeping and wanted her to stay with him. She couldn't imagine what it would've been like if she had dreams on him dying instead. She gently caressed his neck and jaw, shushing him at hearing his shaky breaths. His buried his face in her hair. Thinking for a second, Grace smiled as she found the perfect solution. She opened her mouth and started to sing. 

_It started out as a feeling_

_Which then grew into a hope_

_Which then turned into a quiet thought_

_Which then turned into a quiet word_

 

_And then that word grew louder and louder_

_'Til it was a battle cry_

_I'll come back_

_When you call me_

_No need to say goodbye_

 

_Just because everything's changing_

_Doesn't mean it's never been this way before_

_All you can do is try to know who your friends are_

_As you head off to the war_

 

_Pick a star on the dark horizon_

_And follow the light_

_You'll come back when it's over_

_No need to say goodbye_

 

_You'll come back when it's over_

_No need to say goodbye_

 

_Now we're back to the beginning_

_It's just a feeling and no one knows yet_

_But just because they can't feel it too_

_Doesn't mean that you have to forget_

 

_Let your memories grow stronger and stronger_

_'Til they're before your eyes_

_You'll come back_

_When they call you_

_No need to say goodbye_

 

_You'll come back_

_When they call you_

_No need to say goodbye._

 

_I'll come back_

_When you call me..._

_No need to say goodbye..._

 

Once the song was over, Aragorn was significantly calmer. Smiling up at him, Grace gave him a gentle kiss. He quickly returned the gesture, before pulling back and resting his forehead against hers. He took a deep breath, before pulling her even closer. Grace kept up her actions, still humming the song. He smiled at her. "What would I do without you?" He asked, love in his eyes. "Crash and burn." She replied with a smile and he laughed. 

Victoria was with Bilbo and Frodo, the older hobbit helping his nephew prepare for his quest by giving him his old sword, Sting and his old shirt of Mithril. Victoria sat on the edge of the bed and watched them, a rising feeling of dread growing. Sure enough, Frodo started to unbutton his shirt after asking her if it was alright and Bilbo saw his old ring. "Oh, my old ring. I should very much like to hold it again. One last time." Bilbo said

He was rubbing his hands and unknowingly imitating Victoria from all those years ago. Frodo shared a look with Victoria and she shook her head. At this, Frodo started to close his shirt again. Bilbo suddenly jumped at Frodo, his hands reaching out and his face not looking like his own. Victoria quickly caught him, before he could attack Frodo. Bilbo quickly came back to himself and hid his face in shame.

Victoria tried to put her hand on his shoulder, but he stepped away. "I'm sorry that I brought this on you, my boy. I'm sorry that you have to carry this burden." He whispered as he sat down on another side of the bed and started to cry. "I'm sorry for everything." He sobbed, guilt clear in his voice. Victoria sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around him. This time, Bilbo accepted the comfort. Frodo put a hand on his uncle's free shoulder. Together, the woman and hobbit comforted Bilbo.

That evening, the humans from earth came together with their soulmates. The mood was quite sombre as they would leave the next day and they didn't know who would return. The humans from earth knew that Aragorn and Legolas would survive the war and quest if everything went as it was supposed to, but they had no idea if they would survive it themselves. This frightened them like nothing had before. 

Arwen was practically latched to James's side. She would be the only one staying behind and she really didn't like it. James had an arm around her during the entire evening, no matter what he did. He buried his face in her hair and smelled her unique scent. He would miss her more than anything. He would do his best to return to her, but if his death meant that she would be free, then he would gladly take that chance. 

Grace and Eva were both sitting next to their soulmates. They knew how dangerous the journey ahead would be and they would do their best to protect them. Eva sighed. She had stayed in contact with Thranduil over the years and the two of them were quite amicable now. She knew that he was going to hate the news that his son was going on a life-threatening journey. She sighed again and buried herself in her soulmate's side

Grace bit her lip. She had recognised the gate from Aragorn's dream based on his description. It was the gate to Mordor. If Aragorn's dream was correct, then she would die in the final battle. She resolutely shook her head, telling herself that it wouldn't happen. She would live to see the end of the war and her soulmate's coronation, even if she had to fight thousands of orcs to get there. 

Victoria played with the flame of a candle, making the fire dance around her fingers. If she was lucky, then she would finally meet her own soulmate on the journey. Looking at her friends with their soulmates, she hoped that she would have the same one day. A small, jealous part of her hated that she had to wait, while having to watch her friends being so happy. Whe was happy for them as well, but she wanted it too.

There was silence for several minutes, before Victoria started to hum. It was a nice, soothing melody and everyone was quiet and listened to it. "What song is that?" Arwen finally asked. "It was a song from an female singer that I adored. I thought it was quite fitting for what's to come." Victoria replied. Seeing the curious looks from the others, she smiled and opened her mouth to sing.

_I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go_

_When all those shadows almost killed your light_

_I remember you said don't leave me here alone_

_But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight_

 

_Just close your eyes, the sun is going down_

_You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound_

 

_Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire_

_The war outside our door keeps raging on_

_Hold onto this lullaby even when the musics gone, gone_

 

_Just close your eyes, the sun is going down_

_You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound_

 

_Just close your eyes, you'll be alright_

_Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound_

 

After the song was over, everyone smiled and went to bed. They were leaving early in the morning and had to be well rested. Grace stayed with Aragorn and James had gotten permission to stay with Arwen for one night as long as sleep was the only thing that they would do. Eva and Legolas shared a room as well and Victoria went to bed by herself. They all knew that after tomorrow, their lives would never be the same again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The journey will begin in the next chapter. How exciting! 
> 
> Read and review. See you next time


	8. So it begins

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

The next day, they got ready to leave. Lord Elrond gave a small, but inspiring speech to send them off with. James barely caught any of it as he was looking at Arwen, trying to silently reassure her that he would return. Frodo started to lead the way and Boromir went to follow, only for a wind to blow his cloak over his head. "What the-" He muttered, before correcting his cloak. In front of him, Grace let a small smirk show as she twirled her staff. 

"Mordor, Gandalf. Is it left or right?" Frodo whispered, the wizard quickly replying that he had to go left. James shared one last look with Arwen, before following his friends and leaving the safety of Rivendell behind him. Aragorn had his arm around Grace at seeing her tense posture. Grace relaxed a bit and leaned against his side. Legolas and Eva were holding hands, which was just as intimate for an elf. Victoria and James looked at the two couples in slight jealousy.

They travelled for several days, before something odd happened. At least, something odd in the eyes of the people of Middle-Earth. As they were climbing a hill/ Victoria started to hum something, followed by her friends. As they reached the top and walked in-between two rocks, all four of them were humming the same, impressive sounding tune, before bursting out into laughter. 

Almost everyone looked at Aragorn and Legolas, but even they had no idea what their soulmates and friends were doing. The humans from earth had a lot of fun in the meantime, enjoying the journey while they still could. They travelled for a while longer, before taking a break at the edge of the Misty mountains. Boromir was teaching Merry and Pippin how to use their swords. 

Victoria, Eva, Grace, Aragorn, Sam and Frodo were watching them with smiles on their faces. Gandalf, Gimli and James were talking about the route that they had to take. Gimli suggested going through Moria as apparently another group of dwarves had "succeeded" in re-taking it. James felt sorry for them, but was glad that it wasn't Balin, Ori or Oín. Gandalf refused the suggestion quickly, knowing what was lurking there. 

Legolas jumped on a rock, noticing something in the distance. Meanwhile, Boromir accidentally cut Pippin's hand and the two hobbits took him down in revenge, playfully beating him. The others all smiled at the sight. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Grace said as Aragorn stood up to break the fight up. He didn't listen and put his hands on the hobbit's shoulders, they quickly grabbed his legs and threw him on his back.

"I warned you." Grace muttered casually, before they noticed the same thing that Legolas had spotted. At realising that they were the birds from Saruman, everyone quickly went to grab their things and hide. Legolas grabbed Eva and pulled her in some bushes. Aragorn did the same with Grace and hid underneath an outcrop. To her surprise, Victoria was pulled to safety by Boromir, while James made sure that the hobbits were safe, before hiding himself.

They were just in time as the birds flew overhead and in circles, scouting the place. Everyone kept very still and didn't move, until the birds were gone. Everyone slowly got out of their hiding spot, Gandalf realising that their original route was being watched and that they had to take a different route over the mountains instead. Grace groaned a bit. "Great. Everyone ready for some snow?" She asked sarcastically.

The higher they went, the colder it got. Grace was walking right behind Frodo and quickly caught him when he slipped and fell. "Be careful, Frodo. We don't want you to lose a certain object." She said gently. Frodo nodded and went on. Grace shared a look with Eva and the woman nodded at her. She had done good. They continued on, knowing that the road was going to be harder from now on.

The snowfall got heavier and before they knew it, they were waist deep in it, or they would have if Victoria hadn't decided to use her powers to create a small path for them. It was still slow-moving, but they didn't have to fight through the snow. The men were carrying the hobbits, so that they didn't freeze to death and Grace, Eva and Gimli were doing their best to get Bill the pony through the snow. 

'How has this pony not frozen to death by now?' Grace thought as Legolas walked past her, easily walking over the snow as if he was walking on earth. Legolas went to the edge of the cliff and heard a voice over the harsh winds. "It's Saruman!" Gandalf warned, just as several rocks fell down. Everyone pressed themselves against the mountain wall and James used his powers to break the rocks into smaller pieces. 

Gandalf tried to counter the spell, despite Aragorn's warnings that they had to go back. It didn't work as lightning hit the mountain above them and a massive load of snow fell on them. Legolas quickly managed to get himself out and quickly went to where Eva had been, helping the others get out on his way. Arriving where Grace, Eva and Gimli had been, he quickly dug through the snow. 

"Eva! Are you alright?" He asked after getting her and Gimli out of the snow. "Yes, yes. I'm alright." Eva quickly assured him. Legolas hugged her quickly, but tightly, before helping them and the poor pony further out of the snow. It wasn't until when he went to search for Grace that he realised that something was wrong. There was no trace of the blonde woman, no matter how hard he looked. 

Eva noticed it too. "Where's Grace?" She asked in panic, not seeing her friend anywhere. Gimli looked around as well. Aragorn looked back at them and his heart sped up in fear at not seeing Grace there. Seeing Eva's panicked look didn't help matters either. Legolas slowly looked over the edge, but didn't see anything. He looked back at Aragorn, fearing the worst. Aragorn shook his head in denial. She couldn't be gone. She just couldn't

"We must get off the mountain. Make for the gap of Rohan and take the road west to my city." Boromir shouted, not having noticed that they were missing a member. "That road takes us too close to Isengard." James protested, not having noticed it either. "If we cannot get over the mountain, let us go under it. Let us go through the mines of Moria." Gimli suggested. He felt bad for the lass, but they had to go on.

After Frodo finally agreed with the dwarf, the Fellowship started to turn around. Only now did some of them notice that someone was missing. "Where did Grace go?" James asked, looking at Aragorn. The man slowly turned around and the look in his eyes made James stumble back and curse Saruman in his head. Everyone fell quiet for several seconds in realisation and mourning.

Biting his lip and fighting tears, Aragorn ploughed through the snow with new determination. Grace would've wanted this quest to succeed and he would do his best to see it through. Everyone meekly followed him, not saying anything. They got down of the mountain and made their way to Moria. Gandalf and Frodo talked a bit, before they finally arrived at the outer walls of the mountain kingdom. 

Walking past the wall, Gandalf suddenly stopped in his tracks, making the rest of the Fellowship almost bump into each other. "What is it?" Frodo asked nervously. Was there a new threat? Gandalf smiled in answer. "It seems that the time for mourning is not yet upon us." He replied. Everyone peeked past him and several jaws fell at seeing a very alive Grace leaning against the wall, waiting for them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time


	9. Moria

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

The Fellowship simply stared at the previously presumed dead Grace, before Aragorn shot past them and ran towards her. Grace pushed herself off the wall and opened her arms just in time for Aragorn to lift her up and spin her around. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder as he put her back down, but didn't let go. She replaced her hand and rubbed his back at hearing his shaky breaths.

"I thought that I had lost you." He whispered and she chuckled. "Oh, please. I'm not that easy to get rid off." She replied softly. He let out a watery chuckle himself, before pulling her even closer. After several seconds, Grace carefully pulled back and cupped his face, wiping his tears away. "I'm here, _Meleth Nín_. I'm alright and I love you." She whispered, before gently kissing him. Breaking apart, she rested her forehead against his.

Aragorn finally smiled again as he caressed her cheek. "I love you too." He breathed, before the rest of the Fellowship caught up and Grace was hugged by her very relieved friends and four happy hobbits. Gandalf patted her on the back as he continued on. "How on earth are you still alive?" Boromir asked and Grace unfolded her glider in anger. "The cliff was pretty deep and I managed to unfold it and get the heck out of there, before I hit the ground. It was too dangerous to land on such a small path, so I followed you instead." She answered.

Everyone nodded at that, accepting the answer. Grace turned to two certain hobbits. "Merry, Pippin. Whatever you do, don't disturb the water." She warned them. Both hobbits looked confused. "Why not?" Pippin asked, looking at the seemingly innocent lake. "I flew over here once, accidentally dropped an apple out of my bag and a monster came to grab it." Grace answered, giving the water a dark look. 

Everyone immediately looked apprehensive of the lake as well, the hobbits quickly scurrying to get as close to the wall as possible. In the meantime, Gandalf had found the closed door of Moria. With a slight twirl of her hand, Grace made the clouds disappear and the moon shone on the wall and the door lit up. Gandalf tried to open the door, thinking that he knew the way, but nothing happened. 

"Open sesame." Victoria muttered sarcastically and her friends snorted. "Very funny, _mellon_." Grace said and the doors opened. Gandalf gave them a look as they went inside. In the meantime, Gimli had been boasting about Moria and how grand it was. The humans from earth put the hobbits in front of them, glancing at the water every so often. Their eyes widened at seeing the surface ripple. 

"It's not a mine. It's a tomb." Boromir whispered at seeing several decayed bodies of dwarves lying around with arrows still sticking out. Gimli roared in devastation as Legolas pulled out one of the arrows. "Goblins." He hissed and drew one of his own arrows. Boromir and Aragorn drew their swords. "We make for the gap of Rohan. We never should've come here." Boromir muttered.

"Eva!" James shouted as a tentacle shot out of the water and grabbed his sister, before they could react. Legolas immediately whirled around as the humans from earth charged at the creature holding their friend/sister. Only Victoria stayed behind to protect the hobbits and she grabbed Boromir's arm as he ran past her. "We need to protect the hobbits. If that thing gets Frodo..." She whispered, not needing to say anymore. 

He nodded in understanding and got ready to defend to hobbits with her. Grace had unfolded her glider and was flying around in the air, ready to catch Eva. Knowing that his earth powers had no use now, James used his sword to cut off the tentacles. Some tentacles tried to catch the hobbits, but were cut off by Boromir and Victoria. They finally managed to cut off the right tentacle and Eva was about to fall into the dangerous water. Grace quickly flew underneath her and Eva fell on top of the glider. 

The sudden added weight was too much for the small glider to handle and Grace barely managed to fly into the mines. "Incoming!" She shouted as she and Eva crashed on the ground. With Eva safe, the others quickly fled into the mines, Legolas shooting the monster in its eye in revenge, before retreating. The angered monster tried to follow them and destroyed the entrance in the process.

Aragorn and Legolas immediately ran to their soulmates and shielded them as rocks fell down and covered the entrance, leaving them in darkness.Victoria quickly conjured up a fireball and Gandalf lit up a gem in his staff. A shaky Eva was hugged incredibly tight by her relieved soulmate.  "Oh, thank the Valar that you are safe." He whispered, holding her close. Aragorn checked up on Grace. "Are you alright?" He asked, looking her over for injuries.

She gave a small smile. "I'm alright, but my staff isn't." She answered, holding up said staff.  One of its wings was broken in half. Aragorn winced at that, knowing that Grace had been quite attached to it. "Perhaps, the elves can make another one." He suggested and Grace hummed. "I hope so." She said as she carefully got up with his help and put her glider against a wall. It was of no use to her now anymore. Aragorn rubbed her back in comfort as Legolas looked up at her. 

"Thank you." He whispered. Grace smiled at him. "No problem. I don't want to lose my friend as much as you don't want to lose your soulmate." She replied. Legolas smiled and nodded at her. Eva smiled at her as well as Legolas helped her up. James and Victoria hugged her, relieved that she was alright. Gandalf sighed deeply. "We now have but one choice. We must face the long dark of Moria." He muttered as he took the lead.

Victoria helped him light up their way. "Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world." He warned them as they started walking. Legolas and Aragorn kept a tight hold on Grace and Eva, wanting to keep them close for now. "Queitly now. It's a four-day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed." Gandalf whispered. Only Aragorn and Legolas noticed the faces that the humans from earth made and were even more on their guard than before.

They knew their friends and soulmates well enough to know that they didn't make those faces for no reason. For a time, they walked through the silent kingdom. Despite the fireball in her hand, Victoria shivered and felt the hairs in her neck stand up straight. Someone placed their hand on her back in comfort and she smiled at Boromir in gratitude. Despite their rocky start, they were slowly becoming good friends. 

Seeing a vein of Mithril in the walls, Grace leaned very close to Frodo, who was walking in front of her. "Frodo, are you wearing your uncle's shirt?" She asked very softly and Frodo nodded. She smiled and patted his shoulder. Gandalf shone down the mine and Eva grabbed her soulmate's arm as she looked into the deep canyon. This was way deeper than in the movies and she had visited Erebor several times. Victoria didn't even look down. She hated heights

Gandalf talked about Bilbo's set of mithril and the humans from earth all let a small smile show on their faces. They arrived at a spot with three different hallways. They had to stop as Gandalf apparently didn't remember the right way. Aragorn looked at Grace in concern, seeing that she was looking more and more uncomfortable. "Are you alright?" He asked and Grace sighed in answer.

"I just don't really like being in mountains and caves. No offense, Gimli." She added, looking at the dwarf. Gimli simply shrugged. "My element is air and I feel at home in the sky or high places. I'm sure that James feels at home here, but me: not so much." She continued. Aragorn rubbed her back as he looked down the mine shaft. "What is that?" He asked at seeing something move down there. He tensed up and pulled Grace closer

"Oh, that's just Gollum. He won't hurt us. At least, I hope not." Grace replied casually. She felt pity for the creature that Gollum had become, but that wouldn't stop her from attacking if he attacked them first. Aragorn slowly relaxed a bit art this. "Oh, it's that way. "Gandalf finally said and they went on. Gandalf suddenly lit his gem up even more and its light shone on countless numbers of huge pillars. 

"Behold, the great realm and dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf." Gandalf stated and even the humans from earth craned their necks, trying to take everything in at once. They walked on and came to a room with a tomb in it. Gimli ran in and the others followed him. Gimli mourned for his fallen kin, while Gandalf read the inscription. "Here lies Narlug, son of Kirmer. Lord of Moria. "He stated and Legolas turned to Eva.

 _"This is why master Balin wasn't allowed to go, isn't it?"_ He whispered in elvish and Eva simply nodded. Legolas and Aragorn, who had been listening, both looked at the tomb, realising that their friends and soulmates had prevented yet another death of a friend. Victoria put her hand on Gimli's shoulder in comfort as Gandalf picked up a large book and started to read out of it.

"They have taken the bridge and the second hall. We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes. Drums, drums in the deep. We cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark. We cannot get out. They are coming." He read in a low tone and everyone went even more on their guard. The humans from earth shared a look. Those were the same words from the movie. It seemed that some things never change. 

Speaking of which, Grace looked at where Pippin was looking at a skeleton. "Pippin." She hissed, making the young hobbit jump and turn around. This sudden movement made the body fall into the hole behind him and Grace winced as it landed with a loud clatter, followed by a bucket and an even louder thud. "That was my fault. Sorry." Grace apologised, before Gandalf could scold the poor hobbit. 

"Well, you might want to keep your warnings to yourself next time." Gandalf scolded, ignoring the glare that Aragorn directed at him. Everyone suddenly tensed up at hearing drums starting to beat  and screeching. Legolas pulled Eva closer, recognising the screeches. "Orcs." He warned as everyone pulled their weapons. "Well, here we go again." Grace muttered as they prepared for battle. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a while. I had no inspiration.
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	10. Battles and Balrogs

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise

Boromir quickly closed the door to the room as a loud roar was heard. "They have a cave troll." He said exasperated as he, Legolas and Aragorn barricaded the door. The humans from earth split themselves up to give each hobbit a protector. Grace was with Merry, Eva with Sam, Victoria with Pippin and James was protecting Frodo. They got ready as the orcs tried to break down the door. 

They finally managed and stormed in. Everyone went to face them, including Gandalf and the hobbits. With a loud roar, a cave troll was led in and immediately focused itself on Sam and Eva. The woman helped the hobbit duck its attacks, stabbing it in its stomach as it still went after them. The orc roared in pain and went to hit her with its arm. Eva barely managed to duck and roll away.

Focusing on the small hobbit instead, the orc drove Sam into a corner and went to step on him, only to be stopped by Eva, Boromir and Aragorn pulling on the chain around its neck. The troll got angry and slammed Boromir against a wall. Dazed from the hit, Boromir was unable to protect himself from an attacking orc, only for Victoria to appear out of nowhere, cut its head off and return to Pippin within a second. Frodo was pulled to the side by James, who asked the hobbit if he trusted him. Frodo quickly nodded. 

The fight went on for a while longer. Eva and Sam still worked together and the woman felt her heart stop for a moment as she saw the troll attacking her soulmate, before remembering that he would be fine. "Sam, you use your frying pan!" She ordered. Sam gave her a confused look, before obeying and using his frying pan to knock out orcs. "I think that I'm getting the hang of this." He muttered, before continuing on.

Seeing that Legolas was no easy target either, the troll decided to go after Grace, Victoria, Merry and Pippin. The two women did their best to defend the two hobbits. Grace was knocked back against a wall, her cry of pain alerting Aragorn of her situation. He quickly fought his way to her side and defended her unconscious body. Angered at the attack on their friend, Merry and Pippin jumped on the troll's back and stabbed it

This was when a giant rock flew through the air and hit the troll in its face, dazing it. Legolas used this opportunity to shoot it through the head, finally killing it. It fell down on the ground, the two hobbits falling off its back. With the Fellowship having killed the rest of the orcs, the battle was over for now. Aragorn immediately checked up on Grace, who woke up with a pained grunt after a few seconds, a gash on her head. 

Sam looked around. "Where's Frodo?" He asked and everyone immediately looked at James as he had been the one protecting Frodo. The man simply smiled and made an exaggerated stomp on the ground, a hole forming in the ground and an unharmed Frodo popping out of it. "Can't kill him if they can't find him." James said as the entire Fellowship sighed in relief at seeing Frodo safe and sound. 

Seeing that Frodo was alright, Aragorn looked back at Grace and looked at her wound in concern. Eva kneeled next to them and used some water to heal it a bit. There was still a wound on her head, but it wasn't as big. "I would heal it completely, but we don't have much time." She said. Aragorn nodded and gently helped Grace up. "Can you move?" He asked  and Grace nodded in answer.

Hearing more orcs incoming, Gandalf ordered them to run and they did. Orcs and goblins were right on their trail and managed to surround them, growling and hissing. The men quickly pulled the women and hobbits behind them. Then, a loud roar was heard and orange light shone in the distance. Seeing this, the goblins and orcs quickly fled. Knowing that this couldn't mean anything good, Boromir turned to Gandalf. 

"What is this new devilry?" He asked and Legolas noticed Eva's tense posture. He grabbed her hand to calm her down, only to tense himself at hearing Gandalf's answer. "A Balrog. A demon of the ancient world." The old wizard said in a grave tone. Victoria gulped at this. A Balrog had looked awesome in a movie, but in real life.... it was going to be terrifying. At Gandalf's order, they started to run again.

Boromir almost fell into a deep chasm, Victoria just being able to pull him back with help from Legolas. Gandalf ordered Aragorn to lead them to the bridge and with some reluctance, Aragorn did so, holding Grace close during the entire time. They ran down several stairs and deeper into the mountain. 'Why doesn't Middle-Earth have railings?' Victoria thought as her fear of heights returned full force.

They came to a small gap in the stairs. Legolas jumped first, followed by Eva and Grace. The Balrog was getting closer as Gandalf jumped. An arrow barely missed them and Grace made a motion with her hand, blowing the goblins shooting away them from the edge that they were standing on and into the lava. Boromir and James jumped while holding Merry and Pippin. Just after they jumped, the stairs broke off a bit and the gap grew. 

Aragorn threw Sam over and went to do the same with Gimli, but the dwarf refused. "Nobody tosses a dwarf." He said, before jumping and barely making it, forcing Legolas top grab him by his beard. The stairs broke off even more, almost taking Aragorn and Victoria with it. The woman whimpered as her fear grew. Aragorn put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, knowing about her fear.

A rock fell from the ceiling and broke the stairs behind them, making the bit on which they were standing unstable. "Frodo, Aragorn. On my word, lean forwards." Victoria said as the bit of stairs started to move back-and-forth as it started to break down. Aragorn held onto Victoria and Frodo, while the rest of the Fellowship couldn't do anything, but watch. At the right moment, Victoria looked at the other two. 

"Now!" She ordered and the three of them leaned forwards. The bit of stairs followed their example and the gap shrunk. Victoria, Frodo and Aragorn jumped at the right moment and were caught by the rest of the Fellowship. With all of them safe, the group continued. They were close to the bridge, when the Balrog finally showed up. "Oh lord." Eva whispered, looking back at the demon as Legolas pulled her along.

Having seen Victoria's pure fear at the stairs and quickly realising why, Boromir gently grabbed her hand as they ran over the bridge, giving her something to focus on. Once everyone was over the bridge, Gandalf went to face the Balrog. "You cannot pass!" He shouted. Aragorn went to help him, but Grace stopped him. "This is beyond us." She whispered as she watched her old friend face the demon. 

"I am a servant of the Secret Fire, worker wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn! Go back to the shadow." Gandalf shouted again as the gem in his staff lit up and formed a shield that the Balrog couldn't break. "You shall not pass!" The wizard screamed at last, before slamming his staff on the ground and despite the situation, the humans from earth all got chills down their spine. 

Knowing what was about to happen, James grabbed Frodo and lifted him up, so that he wouldn't run forwards. At first, nothing seemed to happen. The Balrog took a step forwards and the bridge collapsed, taking the demon with it. Just as everything seemed over, the demon's whip grabbed Gandalf's leg and pulled him down. Frodo immediately began to struggle in James's grip, screaming the wizard's name. 

Gandalf barely managed to grab the edge and looked at them. "Fly, you fools." He whispered, before falling into the chasm. Frodo fought even harder at this and James had quite some trouble to get the struggling hobbit out of there. Seeing the goblins arrive at the other side of the chasm, Grace pulled the shocked Aragorn to safety. Once outside, almost the entire Fellowship collapsed. Eva fully healed Grace's wound as the gash had opened slightly again and was giving her a killer headache and making her feel fuzzy.

Aragorn stood behind her with his hand on her shoulder. Once Eva had gone on, he spoke up. "You all knew, didn't you?" He asked, Grace's refusal to look at him a clear answer and he sighed in frustration. "Why didn't you do anything?" He asked in a slightly harsh tone. "Because if we change even one thing, the fate of the entire world can change. For better or worse. In this case, it would be worse." Grace hissed.

Aragorn gave her a look, before ordering the Fellowship to continue on as it would only be a matter of time, before orcs would be swarming the lands. They reluctantly got up and went on. Grace carefully grabbed her soulmate's hand and he squeezed it after a few seconds, showing that she was forgiven. "No more secrets, alright?" He asked and she smiled. "Yes, your majesty." She answered and he chuckled as the Fellowship continued on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time.


	11. Lothlórien

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

At sunset, they finally managed to reach the forest and slowly walked on further. James, Eva and Victoria all looked around in awe, never having been here before. Grace couldn't help, but smile at Gimli trying top warn the hobbits of an "Elf-witch" that lived in the woods. "Actually, Gimli. The Lady of Light is a very kind and wise woman. Who do you think gave me my now-broken staff?" She asked. 

The hobbits, who had tensed up at the dwarf's words, relaxed again at her reassurances, although Frodo still looked shifty as he looked around. Grace knew that this was because he heard Galadriel's voice in his head. "Well, wise woman or not, here is one dwarf that she won't ensnare so easily. I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox." Gimli muttered, almost running into a drawn arrow right after that. 

"You were saying?" Eva said sarcastically as elves surrounded them, all pointing their arrows at them. At Eva's sign, Legolas relaxed. "The dwarf breathes so loud, we could have shot him in the dark." The leader of the group, Haldir, said. Gimli glared at him as they were led to another spot in the woods while night fell. Haldir greeted Legolas and Aragorn in elvish, before turning towards Grace.

" _Lady Grace. It is good to see you again. Where is the staff that we have given you?_ " He asked and almost showed a small smile at seeing Grace's sheepish face. " _I... accidentally broke it. I'm sorry._ " She apologised, before Gimli spoke up about how he couldn't understand what they were saying. The humans from earth all rolled their eyes at this. It seemed that Gimli hadn't changed that much after all

"We have not had dealings with dwarves since the Dark Days." Haldir said in English, looking down on the dwarf. Gimli was about to say something insulting in his own language, but James stopped him by putting his hand over the dwarf's mouth. "Gimli, just don't." He warned. Gimli glared at him, but kept his mouth shut. Haldir walked over to the hobbits and felt the power of the ring. He forbade them from going further.

A while later, Aragorn was arguing with Haldir to let them through while the rest of the Fellowship was spread out a bit. Victoria wa sitting next to Boromir and had her sleeves rolled up a bit. Boromir glanced at her arm and saw her soulmark or rather, the first sentence. He remembered saying the same sentence in Rivendell and her disappointment at what he had said next. He felt guilt go through him. 

Not wanting to talk about it yet, he turned to Frodo, who was sitting across from them. He comforted the hobbit slightly about Gandalf's death, before Haldir ordered them to follow him, Aragorn having managed to convince him. Walking through the forest once again, they finally arrived at the centre. They went on, until they came to the very, very tall trees. "Oh dear." Victoria breathed at seeing how far they had to climb. Boromir heard her and gently offered his arm for support. She took it with a grateful smile.

It seemed that her friends had the same idea as they stayed close to her on their way up. They had to stand in front of another flight of stairs and watched as two elves descended from said stairs. Even the humans from earth, who had already met Galadriel, were in awe. "The enemy knows you have entered here. What hope you had in secrecy is now gone." Celeborn, Galadriel's husband told them. 

"Twelve there are here, yet thirteen there were set out from Rivendell. Tell me, where is Gandalf? For I much desire to speak with him. I can no longer see him from afar" He continued. Galadriel looked into Aragorn's eyes and immediately knew what had happened. Legolas told them about how Gandalf had been taken by a Balrog, while keeping a tight hold on Eva and Gimli looked down in guilt as it had been his idea to go to Moria.

James patted his shoulder as Galadriel comforted him as well. She slowly looked at each of the Fellowship. "What now becomes of the Fellowship? Without Gandalf, hope is lost." Celeborn said bluntly and Aragorn looked down at this. Grace squeezed his hand and he gave her a minuscule smile in gratitude. "The quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail to the ruin of all." Galadriel warned. 

Everyone looked down on this, but the lady wasn't done. "Yet hope remains while the Company is true and love stays strong." She said, looking at Sam and the two couples in the Fellowship. Both Aragorn and Legolas looked at their soulmates at this and they smiled. Galadriel told them to go and rest and they obeyed, walking down the stairs to the ground. As soon as they were down, Victoria dramatically fell to the ground in relief, making her friends laugh. 

"I don't get it, Tori. You're afraid of heights and yet, you still climbed up to Ravenhill and flew over to fight the Nazgûl." Eva said and Victoria pulled a face. "When it is truly necessary, I focus on the fight, not on how high I am." She replied and Eva conceded at that, before walking towards Legolas and pulling him over to talk with Frodo. Boromir sat down next to the red-haired woman and took a deep breath.

"I want to apologise for my words at the beginning of the council. I realise now that I got your hopes up for a minute and I'm sorry for that." He said sincerely and Victoria looked up in surprise and slight confusion. He glanced at her arm and she understood. "Well, thank you. I guess that I just have to wait a bit longer to find my soulmate. Have you found yours?" She asked and he shook his head in answer. 

"Well, I guess that we both have to wait then." She said with a small smile and he gave one back. "I honestly do not care if I find mine, as long as my brother finds his." He said, before looking surprised at revealing this. Victoria chuckled. "Faramir is lucky to have a brother like you." She said and he gave her another smile, before frowning. "How do you know my brother's name?" He asked. "I visited Minas Tirith a few decades ago. You were just a boy then." Victoria replied

Boromir let out a small gasp as he remembered. "I remember. My brother even gave you a flower, but was too shy to say anything." He said and Victoria chuckled again. "And I didn't say anything either as I didn't want to scare him." She laughed. Boromir laughed as well, before realising something. "How come that you look exactly the same?" He asked and Victoria sighed in reply. "It's a long story." She answered and Boromir nodded at that, accepting the answer for now.

Eva and Legolas were talking with Frodo, trying to cheer the hobbit up and distract him from what had happened. After a while, the hobbit went to bed. Legolas pulled his soulmate closer. "Are you alright?" He asked softly and Eva sighed as she burrowed herself into his side. "I'm as alright as I can be." She murmured and he nodded in understanding. Eva slowly got a mischievous smile on her face.

"By the way, you just won me ten gold coins." She said and he looked down at her in confusion. "How did I do that?" He asked. "I had a bet with James that I could manage to make you talk to Frodo for more than a sentence and I succeeded. I'll go and collect my winnings tomorrow." Eva answered as she went to lie down with her head on his leg and slowly fell asleep. Legolas simply chuckled as he gently caressed her hair. 

Aragorn had been sharpening his sword, while keeping an eye on an already sleeping Grace, before he stood up and walked over to Boromir, who was still sitting next to an awake Victoria. They talked for a bit, Boromir talking about how he was afraid to fail his his city and people. "My father is a noble man." He said, not noticing the face that Victoria made at that, but Aragorn did. He let it go for now. 

Boromir continued about how his father expected him to make things right and Victoria frowned slightly. "That seems like a lot of responsibility for just one man. What is he going to do if you die? Go insane and burn your brother alive?" She asked and Boromir glared at her. "This is nothing to joke about." He said and Victoria just gave him a deadpan look. "Then it's a good thing that I'm not." She replied. 

Boromir gave her another look, before turning back to Aragorn and frowning at seeing how pale he looked. "Are you alright?" He asked and Aragorn shook his head, quickly replying that he was. "Have you ever seen it, Aragorn? The White Tower of Ecthelion. Glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver. It's banners caught high in the morning breeze." He said and Victoria could easily hear how much he missed his home. 

She could relate. Even after so many years, she still missed her parents and big brother. She wondered how many years had gone by for them and families of Grace, James and Eva. Were they still alive? Were they still mourning her and her friends? She sighed as she laid on her back and looked up at the ceiling of leaves above her, listening to the two men talking and smiling at how Boromir and Aragorn slowly got closer. 

The men kept talking, until a sleepy Grace came to find Aragorn and he went with her to go to sleep as well. Both Victoria and Boromir moved a bit to the group, before lying down again. Victoria gently traced her soulmark with her fingers. Like Boromir, she had heard Galadriel's voice in her head, telling her that the time of waiting was almost over and that her soulmate would need her more than anything. 

She felt reassured at this. If lady Galadriel said that she would meet her soulmate soon, then she would. She just had to be patient for a bit more. She wondered and hoped that he was as kind and caring as her soulmark implied. She looked at the words with longing, even though she already knew them by heart. "I can't wait to meet you." She whispered, before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

Miles away, a man was lying on his bed, looking at his own soulmark with the same longing look. " _I can handle myself perfectly well. Thank you._ " The words read and the man smiled as he always did when reading those all too familiar words and gently traced the letters of the words with his index finger. "I can't wait to meet you." He whispered to himself, before closing his eyes and falling asleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, so sorry for not updating in almost a month. I have no exuse, except lack of inspiration. 
> 
> Read and review. See you next time


	12. Leaving safety

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

They left in the morning, all of them getting new cloaks that would hide them from their enemy's eyes. They also got gifts. Legolas got a new bow. Merry and Pippin got new daggers. Sam got elven route. Gimli got the very precious gift of three strands of Galadriel's hair. Frodo got a very special vial. Eva got a water skin that would never run out. Grace got a new glider, which was lighter and faster than the former.

James got a new sword, which was even stronger than his last. It was at Victoria's turn that things got very interesting. Galadriel gave her a necklace with a crystal that had been kept since the First Age for a certain purpose that even she didn't know. "You are destined for great things, Victoria Pace and this necklace will help you achieve that greatness. Do not let your fears stop you." The lady said and Victoria bowed to her.

She could feel the power of the crystal and wondered what it would do. Arriving at Aragorn, Galadriel smiled. "I have nothing greater to give, than the gift that you already have with you." She said while glancing at Grace, who was examining every tiny detail of her new glider. She looked like a small child looking at her new present on Christmas morning. Aragorn smiled as well as he watched her. _"Her love. She is so strong, but she's also in grave danger."_ Galadriel warned him in elvish. Aragorn sighed and looked down. 

 _"She would never stay behind. Not when I'm in danger as well. If I could, I would keep her here, but she would hate me forever."_ He replied with a wry smile, knowing his soulmate all too well. Galadriel nodded. "It is her own choice. We all must choose our own path." She said, looking at Aragorn. The ranger knew that she wasn't just talking about Grace now. He simply nodded at her words. Everyone put their packed things into the boats that they would take.

Legolas explained Lembas bread to Merry and Pippin, before continuing on. Eva looked at him with a smile. "You do realise that Pippin has already eaten four of them?" She asked with a laugh, making her soulmate look at her in surprise and shock. She simply laughed and continued to put three things in the boats. Legolas let out a small laugh in disbelief, before going to help her. Celeborn warned Aragorn about the orcs following them and gave him a dagger.

Once they were finally ready, they all left the safety of the forest. Aragorn and Grace shared their boat with Frodo. Legolas and Eva shared their boat with Sam. Boromir and Victoria shared their boat with Pippin and James shared his boat with Gimli and Merry. "Why do I gett the dwarf?" He murmured good-naturedly and Gimli gave him a mock glare. Everyone laughed at his words, before they got into the boats and started to paddle away

They slowly canoed away from safety. Aragorn couldn't help but glance at where his soulmate was sitting in front of him, her arms wrapped around the little hobbit. Even the lady Galadriel had sensed that she was in danger. That couldn't mean anything good. Feeling his gaze on her,  Grace turned and looked at him with a frown. He simply smiled at her, silently telling her that he was alright. She narrowed her eyes, but let it go for now.

At night, they docked and went to sleep on the rocky shore. However, Victoria couldn't seem to find sleep easily and even when she finally managed to close her eyes and fall asleep, she was plagued by bad dreams. She heard people screaming and dying, horses neighing in distress and the familiar screeching of the Nazgûl. In all the panic, Victoria saw two eyes looking at her in anger and betrayal, the person's face unrecognizable.

"You are my soulmate! You were supposed to protect me! You didn't and now I'm dead, because of you!" The figure in front of her screamed with a distorted voice and Victoria tried to reach out to him, not wanting to believe him, but flames shot out of her hands instead and swallowed the figure whole. She could only look on in horror as her soulmate screamed in pain, before falling to the ground. Victoria shot up straight and panted as she tried to get a grip of her bearings, realising that it was just a dream.

"You alright?" She heard a soft voice ask and she turned around to see Pippin looking at her in concern. "Yeah. It was just a nightmare." She muttered, rubbing her eyes. "What was it about?" Pippin asked curiously. Eva and Grace, who had been awake as well, sat up at this and looked at their friend in concern. They knew that Victoria had been troubled about something all day and they wanted to know what. 

"With this growing darkness, I'm just scared that I will never meet my soulmate. That I will be too late to save him." Victoria muttered, feeling stupid. Pippin rubbed her back in sympathy and Eva and Grace smiled at her. "It will be okay, Tori. You will find your soulmate and he will be alive. There is no way that the Valar let you wait for so long, only to let you down in this way." Grace reassured her and Victoria smiled at her.

Deciding to change the subject, Pippin spoke up. "So, Victoria is afraid of heights. What are you afraid of?" He asked, trying to make Victoria feel more at ease. "Snakes." Eva answered. "Spiders." Grace replied, shuddering at the memory of the spiders in Mirkwood. "And what is James afraid of?" Pippin asked. Eva gave him a smirk. "Wasps. He sees one flying around and he's suddenly several metres away." She said with a laugh. 

Seeing Grace awake, Aragorn walked towards her and asked if they could speak in private. Grace quickly agreed and they stepped away from the rest of the group. "What's wrong?" Grace immediately asked when they were far enough. Aragorn told her what Victoria had said while he had been talking to Boromir and her comment about Denethor. "Please tell me that she was just joking." Aragorn whispered, but Grace's face said enough.

"He burns his own son alive?!" Aragorn hissed in disbelief. Victoria's face at the "noble man" comment now made a lot more sense. Grace sighed and softly told him of the situation. About how if they didn't do anything, Boromir would die fighting orcs and how his death would send his father into madness. About how Denethor would send his younger son on a suicide mission, only to completely fall into madness when his unconscious body returned.

Aragorn's deadpan face was a sight to behold at that. She told him about the lord's refusal to listen to someone telling him that Faramir was still alive, convinced that he was dead. She told him about he almost burns himself and his son alive on a pyre, only to be stopped, by an ally. She didn't tell him who the ally was, but she did tell him that if everything went alright, Faramir would live. Aragorn sighed in relief and nodded. Grace gently cupped his face.

"Are you sure that you're alright?" She asked, having heard Boromir accusing him of being afraid. He smiled at her. "I'll be fine. I have you." He answered. Grace smiled at that and kissed him. Breaking apart, Aragorn nudged her nose with his. "Go to sleep, Eruanna. We need to get up early." He told her and she nodded, going back to the group. Victoria had laid back down and pulled Pippin into her arms, finally managing to fall asleep. Pippin, Eva and Grace all fell asleep as well. Aragorn, Boromir and Legolas kept watch, keeping their soulmates  and friends safe. 

The next morning, they went on in their boats. After a while, they approached two, giant statues standing on each bank of the river. "Well, that'll certainly make you feel as small as a mouse." Victoria muttered, craning her neck. "Try to imagine how we feel." Pippin replied as they sailed passed the statues and arrived at the waterfalls, which signalled both the end of their journey on the water and the approaching split of the Fellowship.

Seeing Frodo walk into the woods on his own, the humans from earth shared a look, before Victoria gave them a wink and silently followed him. The soulmates of Eva and Grace would notice if they would leave and Victoria was better at stealth than James was. Aragorn and Legolas talked for a minute, before the latter walked to his soulmate. "Are you alright?" Eva asked and Legolas sighed.

"I don't know." He said honestly, feeling the darkness creep up on them. Eva gave him a smile, before Merry noticed that Frodo was gone. Aragorn stiffened at seeing that Boromir was gone as well. He looked at Grace, who gave him a tiny smile. "Get ready for a fight." She told him softly. Aragorn tightened his grip on his sword as they and the others went into the forest to look for the missing ringbearer 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time


	13. Protecting hobbits, fighting orcs. The Fellowship business

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

Frodo was in the woods, wanting to be alone. Unfortunately for him, Boromir was there as well. The Ring's influence over the man was getting stronger, until he attacked the little hobbit and tried to take the cursed object for himself. Frodo was about to use it to escape, when a rock hit Boromir on the head and knocked him out for a few seconds. Victoria appeared fron behind a tree and quickly helped Frodo up. 

"I'll take care of him. Go now." She ordered and Frodo quickly scurried away. Victoria pulled her blade _Hathellas_ out of its scabbard as Boromir woke up again. She didn't know which Boromir she would face, so she took precautions. Boromir slowly got up and stared right at the point of Victoria's sword. "Which Boromir am I dealing with?" Victoria asked. Seeing the horrified and guilty look on his face, she already knew. 

"Oh, Valar. What have I done?" Boromir whispered, feeling horrified and disgusted with himself. Victoria slowly lowered her sword and instead held out her hand to help him up. "It's not your fault. It's that stupid Ring that's been influencing you. Now, come on. Merry and Pippin will need our help soon." She said, pulling him along into the forest. Boromir quickly followed him, hoping that Frodo would forgive him.

In the meantime, Frodo had been found by Aragorn and Grace. The hobbit backed away from them, not knowing if they were influenced by the ring as well. "Frodo, we swore to protect you." Aragorn gently reminded him at seeing his fear. "Can you protect me against yourselves?" Frodo asked, before showing them the ring. Grace immediately heard the voice calling to her and shook her head to clear it.

"Would you destroy it?" Frodo asked and Aragorn slowly walked forwards, hearing the ring calling out to him as well. He reached out to it, his fingers mere inches from the Ring. Grace slowly walked forwards. "Aragorn?" She whispered, her voice snapping her soulmate out of his thoughts. The man kneeled down and closed Frodo's hand around the Ring. "We would've gone with you until the end. Until the fires of Mordor."" He whispered, giving the Ring back to Frodo without touching it. Grace smiled at them, before noticing something. 

"Aragorn. The sword." She stated. Both Aragorn and Frodo looked down at her words and saw Sting glowing blue, indicating that orcs were near. Pulling his sword, Aragorn told Frodo to run away from the scene as he took Grace's hand and went to face the incoming orcs. With one last squeeze, the couple let go of each other and focused on the fight. They quickly got help from Legolas, Gimli, James and Eva.

There were a lot of orcs, but the Fellowship was bigger now, so it wasn't as big of a problem. Grace heard their leader ordering them to find the halfling, meaning Frodo. She gulped, but focused on her fighting. Aragorn took her hand and pulled her along to head off the orcs that were following Frodo. Eva had just beheaded an orc, when another managed to sneak up on her and knock her down.

She hissed at a rock cutting her arm open, but looked up at the orc, who was looking down at her with an evil smirk, without fear. Legolas saw and was about to fire an arrow, but there was no need. With a quick jab of the legs, Eva had knocked the creature on its behind and cut off its head with one of her daggers. She jumped up to fight the next one, paying no attention to her wound. Legolas smirked proudly, before aiming another arrow at a different orc.

James and Gimli were fighting together as well, the dwarf knocking their opponents down for James to kill them. ' _If we don't watch out, then I'll have a closer bond with Gimli than Legolas.'_ James thought dryly, before killing another orc. Managing to kill the orcs on that spot, they quickly went on for the rest and killed even more. That's when they heard Boromir's horn in the distance 

Merry and Pippin were in big trouble. Having realised that the orcs were going after Frodo for the Ring, they quickly had the monsters focus on them. This gave Frodo the opportunity to leave. They were quickly cornered, but weren't about to give up. An orc was about to attack the two hobbits, when it felt someone tap its shoulder. It turned around, which turned out to be its last mistake.

"Stay away from them!" Victoria shouted, before cutting off its head. She and Boromir had finally arrived and both immediately started to fight the orcs to protect Merry and Pippin. Victoria had also another goal in mind: stop Boromir from dying. Sure, it had been a badass scene in the movies and he had been a bit of a jerk in the beginning, but he was her friend now and she wouldn't let him die. 

Soon enough, she saw the orc leader appear over the hill and aim an arrow at Boromir. Just as it was about to fire, a fireball shot towards the monster. It temporarily blinded it and made it fire the arrow in the wrong direction. It growled at the missed chance and prepared another arrow. This time, it did fly, but Victoria pulled Boromir out of the way at the last second, the arrow hitting a tree instead. Roaring in anger, the leader glared at Victoria.

The woman gave him a challenging smirk, before continuing the fight. At first, the orc wanted to see her killed, but perhaps Saruman had use for her. "Get me those halflings and the human woman." It growled. It's soldiers quickly ran to the fighting group in even bigger numbers. Boromir blew on his horn, but they were on their own for now. Victoria panted as she started to get tired, but she still fought on.

She had just cut an orc down, when another managed to hit her on the head and knock her out. "Victoria!" Merry and Pippin screamed in horror at seeing her going down. Boromir still fought on, desperate to protect his unconscious friend and the hobbit. The leader of the orcs, Lurtz, narrowed its eyes. It had its orders, but perhaps a little fun could be held. At their leader's orders, the orcs surrounded Boromir even more, making him unable to do anything as other orcs took Victoria, Merry and Pippin.

The orcs that were carrying them were just out of sight, when Lurtz aimed another arrow at Boromir, but was bowled over by Aragorn, the rest of the Fellowship quickly taking care of the orcs surrounding the first son of Gondor. They had heard Merry and Pippin scream and knew that something bad had happened to their friend. Lurtz had just pissed off almost the entire Fellowship and they wanted revenge. 

Grace went to help him, but Aragorn stopped her. He could handle one orc and Boromir needed her more than he did. Grace reluctantly listened and killed off the one of the last orcs, while Aragorn dealt with their leader. She watched as Aragorn managed to kill it in a show of the pure awesomeness that was her soulmate. "They took the little ones and Victoria. I could not stop them." Boromir told them, now that all the orcs were dead. 

Everyone could hear that he was blaming himself and Grace rubbed his back. "We'll get them back. I promise." She told them as they went back to their camp to get their things. Frodo had already left, Sam having left with him. Legolas was about to follow them, but Eva stopped him and shook her head. "They're on their own journey now. We need to save Victoria, Merry and Pippin." She told him, before going to heal her wound. 

"I'm not going." Boromir told them, making them all look at him in surprise. "I'm sorry?" James asked. Boromir looked at them and sighed. "I almost killed Frodo, because of the Ring. Even now, I can hear it in my head. I failed to protect Victoria, Merry and Pippin .I'm not safe to be around. Perhaps, I will rejoin you at a later date, but I can't trust myself now." He explained. The rest shared a look. 

"Where will you go?" Eva finally asked, knowing that they couldn't convince him to change his mind. "I will sail back to Lothlórien, if they will have me. Perhaps, the elves can help me with the Ring's influence." Boromir answered, before turning to Aragorn. "Forgive me for everything that I said. I was too blind to see the truth. Once I return I will follow you anywhere, my brother. My captain. My king." He told the other man, bowing slightly towards him.

Aragorn was surprised for a moment, before nodding. "If we're still alive at that point, we would really appreciate your help." Grace piped up. _"Grace."_ James and Eva groaned at the same time. "What? We're all thinking it." Grace defended herself. The others chuckled at her words, before Grace looked at Boromir and got serious. "I promise you that we will save Victoria, Merry and Pippin." She swore, before Aragorn spoke up as well.

"And I promise you that I will not let the White City fall. I will not let our people fail." He swore, his words making Boromir smile. "Our people." He repeated, before standing up and giving Aragorn a manly hug. Pulling away, he hugged Grace, Eva James, Legolas and gave Gimli a pat on the shoulder. Eva moved her hands a bit and something in the river changed, a part of it beginning lighter than the rest. 

"If you stay in the lighter part, it will be much easier to sail upstream." She told Boromir, who nodded in gratitude. Taking his shield and leaving his broken horn behind, the first son of Gondor stepped into one of the boats and started at sail back. The remaining part of the Fellowship watched him go. "Do you think that he will be alright?" Legolas asked and Eva shrugged in answer.

 _"I don't know, but if we hadn't done anything or if we hadn't been here in general, he would've gone that way in a boat while not breathing as well."_ She replied in elvish, pointing at the waterfalls. He widened his eyes, realising what she meant. Once Boromir was out of sight, Aragorn took charge. "Leave what you can behind. We travel light." He ordered and the others nodded. Once everyone was ready, Grace gave them a smirk as she grabbed her soulmate's hand.

"Let's hunt some orcs." She said, before running into the forest. Gimli gave a cheer as the others followed them. The Fellowship may have broken up, but they still had a mission to carry out. At the other side of the river, Sam and Frodo looked out and saw Mordor in the distance. "Do you think that we'll ever see our friends again?" Frodo asked. "We just might, Mr Frodo." Sam assured him, before they started on their way down.

"I do wonder what Mr James meant though." The gardener continued, making Frodo look at him. "He said: when you're close to Mordor and you have to climb a gigantic wall, guard the bread." He said and Frodo let out a chuckle as they went on, not knowing that that piece of advice would save their friendship one day. In another part of the world, Victoria slowly woke up as she was bounced around, hanging upside down.

She slowly managed to lift her head enough to see herself surrounded by orcs. Looking to her right, she saw an unconscious Merry and Pippin being carried around on the backs of two other orcs. Looking down at her hands, she saw that her hands had been bound by normal, everyday, if filthy rope. She almost laughed at that. Did they really think that they could bind her with normal rope? She could burn right through them within an instant.

But not now. Now was not the right time. They were with too many and she had to look after Merry and Pippin. She let her head fall again and showed a hidden smirk. She knew the perfect time to escape, but she had to be patient and play it low for now. She had waited sixty years for her soulmate. This should be easy. She held onto that thought as the orcs carried her and the hobbits further into Middle-Earth 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Boromir not going with them is very out of character, but it's part of a bigger idea for later. We'll see him again. I promise
> 
> Instead of my previous story "a long journey," I decided to give each movie its own story, meaning that this is the last chapter for "a bigger fellowship." Somewhere in the next week, I'll post the first chapter of the next story, so keep an eye out.
> 
> Read and review. See you next time. 
> 
> P. S. Do any of you have an idea for an title for the next story? I got nothing.
> 
> P. P. S. Yes, I made a supernatural reference in the chapter title. Sue me


	14. Sequel posted!

Hey guys! 

 

I have posted the sequel to this story. It's called "bring down the Tower!" Go check out the first chapter


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